Ominous Clouds
by Uchiha' Mikomi-Aii
Summary: A mythical bird that never dies, the phoenix flies far ahead to the front, always scanning the landscape and distant space. It represents our capacity for vision, for collecting sensory information about our environment and the events unfolding within it.
1. Prologue, Entertainment Purposes

_Disclaimer: __No, Am afraid I don't own Naruto, he belongs to Kishimoto-sama, along with his friends. This is a disclaimer for the whole story. Also the next two parts belongs to whoever writes death note, although I modified the second one a bit in order to fit the story.

* * *

_

Prologue, The things Tobi will do for entertainment purposes.

* * *

In the future reflected in the fruit, I change my dream into an ideal,  
The end that everyone desired.

Within the spreading darkness, We exchange vows of revolution.  
I must not allow anyone to stand in my way.

Someday I'll show you..  
A brilliant world.

* * *

I saw dreams that no one could have seen,  
and threw away anything that was not of use to me.  
Yet unyielding thoughts reside within my heart..  
And I wonder if I made the right decision.

-x-  
I'm still in the gorge of reality and idealism.

Even if my feet get caught in the shackles of sacrifice,  
My overflowing urges cannot be repressed.

My hearts yearning is so strong,  
I feel like I'm missing something, in this aching hole in my chest.

-x-  
I'm a shinobi who knows real solitude.  
_Lies, fear, grief. _All kinds of negativity.  
Though I'm not weak enough to get captured by them.

* * *

"Oh.. If Tobi doesn't hurry up, Deidara-sempai is gonna shove birdies up Tobi's rear end and make them go boom." The spiky-haired shinobi's hands travelled to said area -while he winced- patting his cloak down, as if he was brushing off the unwelcome memories of the last time his ass went for a ride with the little clay birdies, after pissing his sempai off.

The latest member of the Akatsuki organisation was currently strolling among the thick forest trees in river country making his way back to the main base in Amegakure, where his partner was probably waiting. He'd already been gone a week -attending to his private business- and was due back tonight for a mission in the morning with his bossy sempai. It was starting to get dark already, and he really should pick up the pace or take to the trees, but this was Tobi-- A grown man with the attention span of a two year old; no sooner did the thought to hurry cross his mind, that it left.

Something had caught his attention.

Sat atop one of the thick, aged tree branches, was a tiny brown squirrel, with a large bushy tail. The orange-masked nin slowly -as not to startle it- approached the little rodent with mild fascination, and within no time was perched in the tree with his back against the trunk. The squirrel didn't seem bothered in the least by the cheerful shinobi's presents, it just continued munching on the nut it held between its claws.

"Good evening, Squirrel-san." Tobi greeted cheerfully, the little rodent looked up at him as he continued to speak, "Tobi thinks you are so _cute!_" he practically squealed, reaching out to the brown ball of fur. It leapt into his outstretched hand, and the dangerous Akatsuki member cuddled it to his chest, as he rocked his arms from side to side.

Noticing that the squirrel was not trying to escape his gloved clutches, the masked shinobi started to converse with his new friend in delight. "Tobi likes Squirrel-san already. Does Squirrel-san want to come home with Tobi?" he tilted his head to the left slightly, as if waiting for an answer.

Then one dark eye flicked to the forest floor below, where four cloaked, and masked, figures darted past as nothing but blurs.

* * *

Tsunade had placed members, out of her -top, personal- ANBU, into a temporary four-man-team, and sent them off on a quick diplomatic mission, to keep and further secure the political relations between fire and wind.

Of course, they accomplished their mission in a breeze, as it was not a wish of the hokage, nor the Kazekage, to break such a peaceful alliance. It had been five years since the betrayal of Suna, and they had paid Konoha back with all they could. Though Gaara being appointed Kazekage, made it that much easier to learn to trust Suna again and build those unbreakable bonds, everyone held so dear to them now.

The team were currently running along the ground, dodging and weaving through trees, as they silently made their way back home. Neji and Shikamaru were up ahead whilst Kano and Aki travelled a few meters behind.

Kano and Aki had been friends since their early academy days, and had been inseparable ever since. They ended up in the same team for years after they graduated, going through the chuunin and jounin exams together; with their female team-mate Mizuki, who they sadly lost on a mission, nearly a year ago. After the death of their blue haired comrade, they both took the ANBU exams and easily passed.

At first, the two boys had been disgruntled to find that their captain was female -not that they were sexist- and also a newbie just like them. They soon found out the hard way that their captain was a force to be reckoned with. _A feisty little spit-fire,_ as Aki was so brave to put it. It was after a rough sparing match, where the captain took both boys on at once, that she earned their respect. The outcome had been quite bad though, she beat them both to a bloody pulp, for underestimating her. Kano had quickly noted that she was quite sensitive in the area of being underrated, and stored it away for later analyzing. She had quickly slipped into medic mode healing them after, which had earned her an apologetic and thankful grin from Aki, and a smirk from Kano.

Despite being such close friends, the two were so very different; from looks right down to personalities.

Aki had a mess of short spiky-blonde hair, and inky black eyes. Kano had long-silky black hair, and golden orbs. Where as Aki was tall with a slightly muscled body, Kano was short but well built. They were both very handsome indeed, but the golden-eyed shinobi frequently grabbed the ladies attention, which wound the blonde up to no end.

Personality wise the dark-eyed shinobi was as bright and bubbly as his name; often getting himself into sticky situations by acting without thinking. _Oh_ and he could talk, he always goes on about something or other, more-time having to be shut up by his agitated partner in crime. The golden-eyed ninja had always been cool and calm in almost every situation thrown at him. He always acted bored but not lazy, even if something does manage to spark his interest. He is highly intelligent, definitely the brains of the two and he never did anything without thinking of the repercussions.

"Something's not right." the dark haired ANBU quickly realized, though it seemed nobody else had noticed. "Aki, _stay close_."

And the blonde did so. He knew by now that there was no point in arguing with his partner, he could say _I can look after myself _as many times as he liked, and the over analytical shinobi would not listen. He had always been the protective older brother type, especially since the death of Mizuki, even though he was actually the youngest. So the blonde always did as he was told, even if it was just to make his comrade feel better.

Not to long later, did the duo hear the calling of their current team member's dojutsu. "Byakugan." he whispered, as not to be heard whilst he scanned the area rapidly looking for signs of danger.

By now everyone's senses were prickling, they were all on guard.

Neji abruptly stuck his right hand in the air signalling to the team, who stopped in their tracks. Stood in the clearing; they all tensed, though not visibly and readied to attack or defend, as hands went in the direction of shuriken and kunai pouches, that were strapped securely to their uniforms.

* * *

The dark-haired shinobi had finally caught up to the blurs, that had passed him not five minutes ago, landing on the branch of a tree slightly ahead of them; he immediately recognised the standard jounin uniform and ANBU masks. He understood that system well. They had been on a high ranked mission but not a dangerous one -most likely political- thus the ANBU armour was unnecessary.

"Wow, Tobi didn't think he'd find a bunch of leaf ANBU way out here." he said loud enough for them to hear, from behind his own orange swirl shaped mask; catching the groups attention.

"That cloak.." the blonde gasped.

Tobi watched as he tensed, though it might not have been obvious to another shinobi, Tobi could see his every move. A battle was coming, he could feel it in the rapidly thickening atmosphere. Maybe he could have some fun. If they put up a decent enough fight. Political mission or not, he knew they would be prepared, a shinobi would be stupid not too.

"And its four-on-one. No fair." He went on ignoring the blonde male.

"Its an _Akatsuki_." A short, dark-haired shinobi growled in confirmation from behind his dark-blue, wolf-shaped porcelain mask. "Be on guard, this is the one we don't know anything about." he warned the team. He was the leader or the brains, the lone Akatsuki member hadn't quite decided yet. And that meant that he was probably both.

"Oh.. That's because Tobi's relatively new, wolf-san. Nice to meet you, am Tobi. What's your name?" He taunted, knowing full well that ANBU didn't give away names unless necessary.

"Don't start acting cocky yet, we haven't even started!" the other wolf-masked shinobi, with blonde hair yelled, clearly from agitation. He was like Deidara in a way, Tobi mused, such a short fuse. This could be more fun than he had thought.

"Don't make any sudden moves, lets just observe him for now." the dark-haired one ordered in a hushed voice, more so to his masked-twin, who was getting more and more riled up by the minute. "He's out numbered, but we don't know where his partner is, they always travel in two's."

The missing-nin watched on with amusement, as golden eyes scanned the terrain looking for any unnatural disturbances. _Yupp. This ones definitely their leader, _he thought to himself. He was certainly a cleaver one, but Tobi wasn't about to let them know his partner was not around. It wouldn't put him at a disadvantage to let them know, it was just much more entertaining to see them so on edge, thinking that his clay using sempai may be around and waiting to attack.

"We've still got the advantage!" the blonde shouted out, clearly raring to go.

"Your not taking Tobi seriously?" the dark-haired-nin asked in mock hurt. "Not cool."

"Get out of our _fucking _way!!" a furious blonde yelled, as he flipped through a series of seals. He then slammed his palm against the ground and suddenly the earth shook as it crumbled and boulders of dirt went flying towards the seemingly unsuspecting Akatsuki member.

"Ghaaagh." he screamed, dodging the bone crushing blows, one after the other effortlessly. When the onslaught of boulders finally stopped, Tobi leapt into the clearing with the leaf-nin and chuckled to himself before saying very sing-song, "Not."

The four ANBU stared at him puzzled, he didn't even have a single speck of dirt on him never mind a scratch.

Maybe he wasn't as harmless as he looked. He may refer to himself in third person and talk in a higher pitched voice than the average male but he wasn't in Akatsuki for nothing, Kano realized.

To say that Aki was pissed was an understatement; that was a very capable jutsu, it should have at-least hit the childish Akatsuki member a good few times. He shouldn't have even seen it coming let alone dodged in time. The blonde could have sworn he seen a few boulders go through him though.

Out of sheer rage, the onyx-eyed ANBU grabbed a few shuriken from his pouch, attaching them to trip wire. All at once he jumped into the air, throwing the shuriken in Tobi's direction; the wires quickly wrapped around the missing-nin's middle, effectively tying him to the nearest tree trunk. Aki landed with the other end of wire in his mouth as he quickly sped through a set of hand seals.

Mi. Tatsu. U. Tora.

"Katon: Ryuka no jutsu." he shouted, through clenched teeth to keep the wire in place. He kept his hands in the last seal and brought them up to his mouth. Inhaling deeply, he focused chakra to his chest and exhaled fire along the cords. A large, devastating flame charged towards the tied down Akatsuki member, who didn't even so much as squirm.

The orange-masked man was engulfed in the flames and momentarily disappeared from sight as the fire vanished, being replaced with a cloud of smoke, the after affects of the jutsu. By the time the thick smoke started to clear he came back into view, in the exact same spot. The tree bark was charred black from the fire but Tobi's clothes weren't singed or damaged in anyway.

"Now, now.. That's not very nice." The spiky-haired nin started, as he waved his hands about. "Stop being mean to Tobi, he didn't do anything wrong, Tobi's a good boy.. _A good boy!__"_he exclaimed in a whiney voice.

"Urasai!!" the blonde shouted at the top of his lungs, if his mask wasn't obscuring his face, everyone would be able to see the frustration and anger etched across his features; instead they could probably feel the waves of killing intent radiating off of him.

"..iiya." the childish Akatsuki member said after a bout of silence for dramatic effect. "Tobi will not. You are so rude, wolf-san. " he continued, waggling his finger at the group to stress his point. "Tobi could have got a boo-boo! ..what would you have done then?" he abased in a voice showing just how serious he was. "You should be ashamed of yourself."

"What the.." confused golden eyes roved over the missing-nin, but with him too wearing a mask his intentions were troublingly unknown.

The byakugan-user stared at the masked-joker wide eyed. He had never heard a shinobi, let alone an enemy complain, about a _boo-boo _before. The childish antics of an obviously powerful shinobi was so laughable that the Hyuuga genius did just that. He had to muffle his uncharacteristic outburst with his hand, before quickly recomposing himself.

"Oh.. Troublesome." the Nara genius muttered under his breath. This was going to be one ache in the brain. Shikamaru's mind was at work already. Their was one of three problems to worry about. Ichi, the most obvious, where in the hell was his partner? Ni, what was he up too? At the moment it seemed like he was trying to entertain himself. And San, both high level attacks on Aki's part had done no damage whatsoever; but what was more disturbing was the fact that no-one in konoha had encountered him in battle. His jutsu, elements and fighting style was unknown; thus making this problem the Konoha-ANBU's first priority.

"Don't do anything brash, Aki, it could put the whole team in danger. He might be out numbered but he doesn't seem bothered in the least. Its like he's toying with us, be careful." Kano warned his agitated partner, with only one plan in mind. Take down. Bright golden eyes travelled to the strategist of the temporary team, to see if he too had come up with the same idea.

Shikamaru understood what he was trying to relay in his golden orbs and nodded confirmation. They needed to team up, hopefully that way he would be too distracted to use whatever technique it was that effortlessly dodged their previous attacks, and if that didn't work he knew they could very well be screwed. Quickly gaining the attention of the other two members of the group, he simply explained, "Formation Sakura."

Instantly the team got into the formation. The Akatsuki member wouldn't know what hit him, for the only people that knew about it were the ANBU team's Yon and Kyu. Fortunately two members of each team were present. It was a relevantly easy tactic that the said blossom-haired kunoichi quickly thought up when they last got into a tight situation -it rendered the foe useless and sometimes unconscious, particularly good for taking the enemy captive alive for questioning- simply attacking one after the other until Neji could safely get close enough to shut off the foes chakra flow by directly hitting his or her chakra points. With no medic here this time round, they would have to be extra cautious.

Neji and Aki jumped up into the air simultaneously throwing a rain of kunai and shuriken at the orange-masked nin. They continued with the onslaught of attacks- Aki rapidly made the hand signs for his favourite fire jutsu, as he shouted "Katon: Ryuka no jutsu." Neji inhaled quickly -to aid the blonde- and blew out an un-see-able breeze to strengthen the fire dragon; which combined with the wind, blew towards the landing nukenin with deadly accuracy and strength.

Meanwhile Kano and Shikamaru were preparing to immobilize the Akatsuki member. The Nara genius preformed the rat and bird seals, a black shadow formed at his feet stretching out infront of him, moving at great speeds towards his opponent- who was currently getting scorched by the wind educed flames.

Completely taking the brunette aback, the dark-haired shinobi's hands contiguously slipped through seals of their own. Bending down a tinge of raven coloured chakra flared in his hand like a blue flame -though it was not fire natured- and glided along the top if the shadow users jutsu, eventually combining itself.

Without looking at him, Shikamaru asked curiously, "What are you doing?" Nobody had ever combined their chakra with his shadow jutsu's, it wasn't needed; but more so, he was worried that by doing so it would effectively weaken, or interrupt, his technique.

"Just watch." was his reply, as he focused to keep his chakra running through the shadow that was now, joining with that of the dangerous Akatsuki member's.

"Kage Nui no jutsu!" Shikamaru called his battle cry, his shadow splitting off into dark tendrils, slicing through Tobi -as the flames wore off- and binding him in place.

Again, he was not scorched, the fire jutsu hadn't worked this time round despite the much stronger flame; but the shadow-sewing technique had, meaning whatever the formidable jutsu the spiky-haired nin previously used was either not working or he didn't have time to activate it due to the slight distraction. Stuffing that thought in the back of his mind to analyze later, golden eyes sparkled as Kano used his newly created jutsu.

"Omoi, Gekitsuu." he whispered painfully slow.

The Akatsuki member then squealed at the top of his lungs, evident fright seeping into his voice, "Iiya, yamero! Tobi promises to be a good boy! _Please don__'__t hurt Tobi_." he ended in a pained whisper as the raven-coloured chakra evolved into silent but deadly, electrical currents in the blink of an eye.

Mercilessly, gaze unyielding, he resumed his offence against the helpless, pleading member of Akatsuki. Keeping his jutsu going, Kano's left hand flowed through more seals, "Raiton: Senbon Naiyou."

Still wrapped around the orange-masked shinobi through the shadow binds, the lightning manipulated chakra spitted sparks, like little senbon -rather than out wards, manoeuvred towards the immobile nukenin and entered his body without breaking the skin- hitting his chakra points at such a speed that the spiky-haired nin wouldn't have been able to stop them even if he wasn't bound, and rendering him useless.

His body numb and bleeding profusely, the unconscious man slacked against the shadow binds as the lightning-element chakra retreated back to its user, with a resounding fizz.

Kano stood tall and proud at his experimental accomplishment. He smirked to himself knowing that it wouldn't be seen from behind his wolf shaped mask. He looked around at all the pleased looks everyone was giving him, that for an unknown reason, even to him, made the twenty-year-old swell with happiness. "Neji-san, if you would be so kind as to check on _Tobi_, it would be much appreciated."

And he did. The brunette byakugan user walked cautiously over and felt for a pulse on the enemy's wrist, he found one of course, albeit a rather erratic one. "He's just unconscious, though his body seems to be stemming the blood flow and healing the wounds already."

"Strange." Kano thought aloud. Could he be a medical nin? He personally didn't know Akatsuki had one-- although they didn't know much about this particular member. Well in any-case, if they had just snagged Akatsuki's medic that could only be a bonus.

"Indeed." Analytical silver orbs glared at the still form dumped on the ground; now that the shadow-user had released his binding jutsu.

"So.. What do we do with him?" a calm blonde asked, sounding very curious, now that he had reigned in his anger. It was getting increasingly darker now and the older shinobi of the group really wanted to get moving; it would still be a day's before they arrived home.

"Take him back with us for questioning." Shikamaru drawled, like the answer should be obvious.

"Well lets get a move on, id like to make it home preferably some time tomorrow." Aki threw back at the spiky-pineapple-haired nin.

"Alright, alright." Shikamaru added slyly, "But your carrying _him_."

All eyes flicked to the _seemingly_ docile male, wearing a black cloak, adorned with silver outlined, red _ominous clouds_.

* * *

_A/N: So here's the prologue! Am so excited and a little nervous. Hmm…_

I noticed there wasn't many Tobi stories out there -but I just love him, you cant deny just how utterly adorable he is- and so I decided to write this.

I tried my best to help you understand the personalities and looks of my two OC's, Kano and Aki, as they should be staying throughout this story. And yes, before you ask, they will be similar to Sasuke and Naruto in some ways but completely different in others. Basically their supposed to be complete opposites of each other, yin and yang. Yuumei.

_I apologize for those who may be disappointed with the fight; but I generally find it hard to picture battling scenes whilst reading them and so I wrote it to how I could picture it. Oh, and Kano's attack's: Omoi Gekitsuu literally means mind intense pain, which was the closest I could find to mind numbing pain; though **Senbon** Naiyou should be more obvious, **one-thousand needles **internal use._

_As you can see this is my first posted FF. Ive got other bits and pieces lying around and that, mainly my scheme-y little plots but yeah-- I would hugely appreciate any reviews, whether they are good or critical. And by critical I mean written wise; I don't mind people pointing out grammatical mistakes 'cos they too will be appreciated as they may very well help further my writing skills. No flames though, but do let me know what's going round that brain of yours. XD_

_So long as I get atleast one good review, I will_ _write the next chapter, and thus this story will be continued. I promise._

_I hope you all enjoyed reading it as much as I loved writing it._

_Ja ne.  
**Rudii**eee-**Miko**mi. x_


	2. Chapter One, Meeting

* * *

Chapter One: Meeting.

* * *

It was getting late, a blossom-haired young woman soon realized, as tired-emerald orbs travelled to look out the large window, in her shishou's office. A few twinkling stars hung in the darkened backdrop of the winter, nights sky; so far away, well out of reach. She vaguely wondered what it was like to be a star; would she shine brightly -with happiness and glee- as the ones she saw tonight or would she be slightly faded? Only rarely coming out to peer down at the earth, on the days where the skies were clearer and less obscured with dark, murky clouds. Thinking about it, she was probably the latter.

She sighed solemnly and directed her gaze to her teacher who had currently left all the signing of reports for her protégé to busy herself with, whilst she sat back with her beloved bottle of sake and _relaxed_.

The eighteen-year-old couldn't help rolling her eyes, at the bad example the older woman was setting before her.

What was the lesson?

_Old habits die hard?_

Just why was the busty-blonde the hokage again? All she did was drink rice wine all night and then fall asleep, till late morning, dribbling all over the paper work, smudging and imprinting the dark ink onto her flushed cheek; until she was gruffly woken up, by her dark-haired assistant. Just how Shizune learnt to put up with her for all these years, she would never know. Even though, in effect, she did so herself. Signing her mission reports, preparing and giving out missions, running her hospital, as well as the fact that she was the captain of one of the most trusted and higher ranked ANBU teams in Konoha.

It was a hard life..

Well their was an advantage, atleast, the petite female signed hers, and her comrades own pay checks. Always on time, and more than enough.

Quickly signing the last of her reports dutifully -though it was not her duty to fufil- she scribbled Haruno Sakura, on the dotted lines at the bottom of the pages. She smiled a little to herself then. "You know Shishou, the shinobi in my pile are going to be happy to get their pay check _on time_.." the pink-haired kunoichi started, making sure that the hokage heard the emphasis she added to the _on time _part, before she continued, "I'm afraid i cant say the same for yours."

And then she heard the _tsk_, that, sadly, she already knew was on its way. They had had this conversation many-a-time before now. It always started the same way. _If those damn brats.._ Sakura thought dryly to herself.

And then it came, slow and more or less, _slurred._"If dose damn brats' have a probl'm, wiv the way I run fings, then they can come and say it t' mi face. Raver den stick demselves so far up mi arse dat I cant even pull em out, with dere 'hai hokage-sama, whateva y wish okage-sma.'" She hiccupped, "W'at they know 'bout it anyways. Dev' got food on table, a roof over dere heads.. Avent dey?"

"An you.." the Godaime Hokage pointed a very accusing finger at her undaunted apprentice -who by the way, had zoned out a while ago- and proceeded on with her short-lived banter, "You sign 'em y'self anyway.. W'at's it t you?"

Then she seemed to sober up somewhat, to more speak-able terms and Sakura's ears perked up at the notion. "If you really are that bothered, you do it. Become Rokudaime hokage and take this bleeding title off me already. Ive been waiting long enough." she huffed irritably, but genuinely serious.

The pink-haired kunoichi sighed with exhaustion. "Shishou I.."

* * *

"Hokage-sama, Haruno-sama." Izumo gasped over politely as usual-- true to his greeting though, he highly respected Sakura, probably as much as the hokage herself. "Sorry to bother you both, but this is urgent."

Sakura and Tsunade together, inhaled a larger quantity of air than usual, and immediately expelled it, making a deep, single, audiable respiration. It was their involuntary, current state of fatigue, further resulting in an expression of annoyance.

Kamizuki Izumo blanched.

The compassionate kunoichi felt bad for him. They must look pretty scary right now, even she had to admit; they both hadn't eaten since breakfast that morning and the hokage was drunk, in the middle of a crisis, not that the brown haired chuunin knew any of this of course. Sakura also had the feeling that poor Izumo-kun was thrown to the wolves, and hadn't come on his own free will, no doubt it wasn't good news then and his evil scheming partner had purposefully made him pull the short straw. That's usually the way it was with the two.

"Izumo-kun." Sakura started carefully, before all hell broke loose. "You really don't have to call me 'Haruno-sama', for one your older than I, and two, were on friendly enough terms for you to atleast just call me Sakura."

He nodded his agreement, with a small smile.

Weary green eyes darted to the sound-proof, oak door as she tried to guess what kind of situation they were in. With all luck maybe it was just a quick hospital errand. Then she gestured, a perfectly manicured hand much like her shishou's, towards the door. "So what's going on. I can sense my teams chakra on the other side of the door." Taking a few instinctive steps forward, she added, "Their not hurt are they?"

She could sense that one of them was almost depleted of chakra, -they had decent chakra supplies- and so that wasn't a good thing considering she had purposely, persuaded Tsunade to send them on a _'__quick and easy diplomatic mission__'__, _in her absence_. _The first thing that came to her protective mind, -as their captain, she tried to tell herself- was that if Gaara so much as hurt a hair on their precious heads, he was as good as dead-- Kazekage or not, they were her boys to defend.

Kano appeared to be wary and distant at first. He found it hard to trust, which was reasonable for a shinobi of his calibre; though once he deemed you worthy he was a fierce protector -much like herself- and loyal friend. He was a peacemaker, all the same, a natural worrier; he always tried to please everyone, always thinking about how his actions would affect those around him.

Aki was the teams loud, lively chatter box. The blonde had no qualms about meeting new people, since he was a very sunny and out going person, who loved to share his views and opinions with anyone willing to listen. Naturally this made him rather reckless and boisterous, compared with his more serious and calm, brotherly figure. Though the pink-haired kunoichi knew he was much more intelligent than he let on, which was only when he deemed it necessary.

However, despite their blatent differences, the bond they both shared was very close. And two names always came to mind when she would think about her new comrades. Naruto and Sasuke. Even down to the hair colours, they were the same -albeit Sasuke's had a gloss of raven to it and Aki's was a touch lighter- and yet held a space completely their own in her heart.

The obvious difference between the darker haired boys was that the raven haired uchiha was cold and calculating; where as Kano was calculating but warm and friendly, a nice quiet company to be around. Thinking about the difference between the blondes was a lot harder than Sakura had first thought; the only thing she could think of was that Aki was slightly smarter, he knew when to stop without being bonked over the head and didn't whine as much and judged his, as well as, other peoples decisions with logic more so than his heart, though he did so when he needed too.

Naruto and Sasuke had been her first team mates, which she grew up with and became extremely close too in such a short amount of time. Naruto had always been her rock and her his crutch, he had always believed in her when she couldn't believe in herself and thus making him her most precious person; who she would love and protect with her life for as long as she lived.

Sasuke had been her childhood love who she still held feelings for even to this day, but unlike Naruto he had not fully excepted her for who she was and thought of her as nothing but a weak burden to bare. He did his very best to sever the bonds that they shared, even going as far as to try and kill them; and as pitiful as it sounded, the only reason the whole team -except Kakashi, who was in the hospital at the time- survived that last encounter was because of his master, the snake Sannin-- and the same goal, take down the Akatsuki.

No matter how many times the raven haired Uchiha tried to sever their bonds, it never happened -and never would- even if he really did kill them next time, because team sevens bond is impenetrable; even for him.

The funny thing about her relationship with her new-ish comrades Aki and Kano is that it never started out as peaches and cream but water and oil. They just didn't mix. They were grieving a female comrade and she felt like she was intruding, replacing their loss; and so the boys despised her because that's how they felt. Being head of the hospital and always helping Tsunade with her paper work, there was hardly time for bonding with the boys, which only seemed to make things harder.

The darker haired shinobi kept his distance just like Sasuke did and the blonde was too alike Naruto, letting his emotions control his actions, it actually scared her at the time; she could have sworn her shishou had teamed her with them on purpose and she probably had. Sakura was a petite young woman with pink hair, which led to the problems she had experienced with her first team all over again. She was underestimated. That was until they settled their differences in a sparring match. The two macho men got their asses handed to them on a plate by the little kunoichi, who fiercely stepped up to the challenge, showing the two just how well she could hold her own.

Everything was completely different now though. They respected her in a way no one else had. Yes Naruto respected her in a loving brotherly way, but Aki and Kano.. They look up to her. Like she used to Kakashi, not that she didn't anymore like. They watch on as she fusses and heals their wounds, in awe. They train harder and harder everyday, in the hopes of being as highly thought of by most of the infamous shinobi, like she was, they wanted to be more than just a tool to their respective families-- which cut her deeply. They aren't nearly as stuck up as they first seemed. They get nervous in the presents of Naruto and Kakashi, and they openly admit that they couldn't go through the rough training that she had endured with the Godaime hokage, herself.

She did still train with her ex-team-mates, -mainly Kakashi- but for now she was content with the pair of them, they were her new life. And even though she has only known the boys for less then a year, she was just coming to terms with the fact that they were her precious people too and that maybe it was time to drop the, san, from their names. That she loved them and they probably loved her too, in their own special ways.

"Their both fine but Aki's.." Izumo started, bringing the petal-haired woman out of her heard the _but _-which was enough- and was at the office door in an instant, flinging it heavily aside. It was in her way after all and she was worried, so much so that she failed to hear the brown-haired chuunin finish.

"..exhausted."  


* * *

_This is going to be a long night, so much for getting drunk._ Tsunade thought to herself, as her hands lit up green with medical chakra to get rid of her tipsiness, _What a waste of sake.

* * *

_

"Aki-san!" Sakura wailed out the door in concern.

Practically leaping out of the office, she bumped swat-bang into a tall, hard surface. Taking a frustrated step back and rubbing her now Rudolf nose, she looked up -about to shout at _it _for being in her way when she was in such a hurry- only to find obsidian eyes gazing back at her, sparkling with amusement.

"You called." A deep masculine voice cut through the silence.

Emerald depths quickly examined the male in front of her, medically, for any signs of injury. He was slouched in some way because he wasn't stood as tall as he usually held himself, other than that externally he was fine, she sighed with relief, but to make double sure, she asked, "Daijoubu?"

As realization dawned on him, the light-blonde nodded slowly, a broad smile breaking out over his features, "Nothing I cant handle, taichou, just a little tired."Before the rosette-haired kunoichi had a chance to reply, a slightly agitated hokage was stood in the doorway behind her. "What's all this fuss about?" She demanded.

It was Shikamaru who answered -Sakura jumped slightly startled, she hadn't even realised he was there, neither Neji, or Kano- "We captured an S-class criminal. An Akatsuki member."

Looking around the four shinobi -now stood attentively- Sakura noticed, wide-eyed, a person clad in the attire of the criminal organisation of the Akatsuki, with a swirl-like orange mask-- he had been dumped on the ground.

"Office, all of you, now!" her shishou grumpily ordered, and with good reason.

* * *

A tall woman with long blonde-hair, scraped back in two low pigtails, was currently situated behind the hokage desk, with her elbows on the surface, fingers interlaced and chin propped up, in a thinking manner.

She wasn't wearing the correct regalia but considering the way everyone complied to her orders, he supposed she had to be. He knew the hokage was indeed a kunoichi, though he had yet to see her with his own eyes.

The busty-blonde was wearing a tea-green yukata, with a navy blue obi wrapped around her middle, with what he imagined -as he could not see through the desk- was matching coloured slacks and some form of kunoichi footwear. Her finger nails were painted a blood red, and as he continued his gaze up he saw a pair of piercing hazel orbs; they weren't directed at him however, but to what he could sense was the other participants of the current discussion.

He didn't make a move to be acknowledged, for the shinobi thought he was unconscious -and he wanted it to stay that way- but instead listened intently to the conversation at hand.

"Report." The leader of fire was currently saying, sternly.

There was a short pause and then a voice he had heard earlier in the day -during the 24 hours back to konoha- began his report.

"Mission to maintain allies with Suna accomplished, no problems acured. Gaara-sama filled out the necessary paperwork and gave me these for you to sign," It was the dark-haired wolf-san, he noticed as he stepped into his line of vision, said shinobi placed a large brown envelope on the desk and stepped back, "Temari-san will be here to collect them soon."

The dark haired shinobi stopped, in what the captive believed to be a contemplative manner and then resumed his report, "We were travelling back through River -yesterday evening at about half nine- when this Akatsuki member decided to block our path. We didn't find out the reason why he was there or what his motives were, but it was inevitable that we would engaged him in battle. And so we did, attacking from formation sakura, we rendered him unconscious and brought him back without further problems."

"Naruhodo." Two females responded; one was indeed the hokage and the other he didn't know, nor realise she was in the room, but he remembered hearing her voice before out in the corridor. If he could see her face at that moment in time he would see the smirk that twitched at the corner of her lips.

"What about his partner, Kano-san, they always travel in two's."

"There was no sign of him in the vicinity, taichou, it seems he was travelling alone."

There was no reply to this so the captive simply assumed that the female nodded in response.

Since she was here and being reported to also, rather than being dismissed, meant one of two things; first being she was here because she was the captain of two of the members present or two, she held a high position and was no ordinary ANBU captain. It must be the second one he mused, as no ordinary captains had these rights as far as he was aware, because she wasn't captain on this particular mission she should have been dismissed from the mission report, as ANBU missions are confidential-- he would have to investigate.

"Did you find out anything about him or the organisation?" the ANBU taichou asked the group.

"Only that his name is Tobi or that's just what he.. _calls himself_." Kano replied evenly- and in a way that could even be though cryptic.

Tobi flinched at the statement.

"He speaks in third person, what a total nut job." the blonde wolf-san must have felt the need to explain as the hokage's expression changed from one of contemplation to confused, at Kano's blunt answer.

The dark-haired Akatsuki smiled, amusedly, behind his orange mask, this was entertaining indeed.

"To think of it I didn't see him attack once, he just defended himself. He uses this weird jutsu that enables him to dodge deadly blows, well not really dodge, its like it goes through him, without causing damage." This was the smart one of his captives, with the pineapple-y ponytail.

"So how did you.." The taichou asked but was cut of by her hyperactive blonde subordinate.

"We got into formation sakura -as Kano said- me and Hyuuga-san attacked with kunai and shuriken.. Then I used my fire dragon and Hyuuga here blew wind into it, but this only stalled him. Meanwhile Nara-san was getting ready to tie him down with his shadow bind jutsu and I wasn't really sure what Kano was doing.. but it was so cool."

"Aki!" Kano growled at him to stop but he paid him little heed.

"He added chakra to the shadow and when it was wrapped around Tobi, he changed it to lightning element, and before we could even blink he was shooting lightening senbon at the Akatsuki's chakra points. That's how we managed to bring him back."

Tobi couldn't see the blonde wolf-san -who he now knew was called Aki- but he could hear the pride for his partner lacing his every word. He seemed so.. Amazed. He wanted to snort but thought better of it.

"Really." Their taichou sounded intrigued.

"Ill show it you later, yeah?" Kano asked.

The Akatsuki member fought the urge to cluck his tongue, did Kami-sama have no mercy. He was here for entertainment purposes not torture; he thought he would atleast escape the annoying _yeah_ from his partner for a good week or two, whilst he was captive, but ohh no, they just had to have someone with the same annoying tendency's.

"Sure thing. Now shishou what do you propose we do?"

"You tell me Sakura," the hokage stated, as she swung round in her chair to face the large window, she added as an after thought, "Consider it practice."

_Sakura, wasn__'__t that the name of the formation they used, _Tobi couldn't help but wonder to himself.

"Shishou!"

"What? I just want to see how well you can handle such a _situation_."

"Fine, fine." Sakura replied sounding annoyed.

Ah, he was getting somewhere. This sakura was and ANBU captain as well as the hokage's apprentice. Tobi was sure he'd heard of her somewhere. But the thing was, where?

* * *

"Fine, fine." Sakura huffed angrily to herself. Didn't Tsunade understand that she would never take Naruto's place as the Rokudaime hokage. The pink-haired kunoichi may be ready for the job now, but her shishou would just have to wait until Naruto was ready to take on the position. And that was final.

Sighing heavily she got back to the situation at hand. Thinking quickly on her feet, the petal-haired kunoichi decided the best course of action. Pointing to the two present members of team kyuu, she ordered, "Shikamaru, Neji, I want the pair of you to take Tobi here to a holding room in the interrogation department in the basement." The deer and dragon masked shinobi nodded.

"Aki-san," she directed her gaze to the blonde wolf-masked member of her team, yon, "Go to my office on the staff floor in the hospital, in the draw of my desk should be a medical kit -you know my black waist bag- collect it and bring it down to the holding cells." Sakura handed over her swipe card and key so the blonde could get through all the necessary doors.

"Hai." He replied eagerly with a nod.

"Kano-san, could you come with me to find Morino-san and Mitarashi-san."

A nod was his only response.

"Okay now that's settled. Ill be the medic, you boys will be the room guards and Morino and Mitarashi will be the interrogators. How's that shishou?"

"Perfect. See, don't you guys think my protégé here should be the Rokudaime?" the blonde commented.

After watching eager nods all round Sakura snapped, "Iie, I don't think so shishou. Its Naruto's dream and I would never take it from him, even if my life depended on it." She said sternly, leaving no room for discussion.

"This information does not leave this room. Five minutes, lets go."

* * *

It was pitch-black outside in the yard of the hokage tower. All that could be seen were the outlines of the surrounding buildings and trees, the large shadows created by the surrounding brick walls and two pairs of glowing eyes. Golden and emerald.

The wind was blowing mercilessly, and a pink-haired kunoichi shivered, as they made their way through the clearing, and past the gates. Fatigue was finally taking over from the long day; the morning hospital emergency, then the long, intense spar with her old sensei and finally all the office work. It had taken a lot out of her. She would be amazed at the amount of stamina it took to get her through each day, if it wasn't for the fact that it had become the norm a few years ago.

"Where do you think they'll be?" the dark-haired ANBU asked vaguely -so it wouldn't matter if they were heard by prying ears- as they made their way through the damp streets.

"My bets Datenshi, ne?" she smiled a knowing smile at him.

He nodded back, a cheeky smirk pulling at he corner of his lips. "I agree."

Taking to the roof tops of the surrounding houses and shops, the two made their way quickly to the pub, Datenshi. It was the regular shinobi hangout of the leaf village, where people went after long hard missions or before hand; it sold all sorts from beers to cocktails and played a variety of music, which was probably why it was so popular.

As Sakura hopped from the old tea house to the bakery, her legs buckled under her small weight and she lost her footing. Kano jumped down and stuck himself to the side of the building -so he would look horizontal to any by passer- grabbing her round the shoulders as she slipped past; when he expended and maintained enough chakra to flow and manage both weights, he rebounded of the wall and onto the low roof top of the bakery.

Gently setting her on her feet, he quietly reprimanded her, his gaze full of concern. "Why haven't you eaten anything today?"

She flinched away unconsciously, he never failed to note the small things, that his team-mates did or didn't do, especially when it concerned looking after themselves. She noticed he was getting straight to the point, as usual; no use beating around the bush she supposed; following suit rather than denying the obvious she answered: "I haven't had time."

"Then make time Sakura. You know as well as I do how unhealthy it is for a shinobi not to eat, especially with a schedule as full as yours." His velvety voice raised slightly, but she knew he was only worried about her wellbeing and trying to get his point across.

"I promise, Kano, i'll eat something when I next get chance." She said back kindly, smiling in a reassuring manner.

With a curt nod, he got back to the work at hand. "Get on my back." He said turning away from her, "I'll carry you there."

"Um.." She fumbled about with her fingers, not really knowing what to say.

"Sakura-san, were wasting time."

"Ill be fine, lets go." the pink-haired woman said, quickly taking a few steps.

In a gentleman-like manner, the dark haired shinobi scooped her up bridle-style and took off in the direction of the pub. Sakura was so startled that she squeaked, _'__Kano__' _as she felt the cold air brush her bare shoulders and legs, sending a shiver up her spine; but other than that their was no response. What was the need, it would fall on deaf ears and be a total waste of breath. Once Reizo Kano had his mind set on something he would do it, no matter what obstacles stood in his way. He was just so.. Stubborn. Kind of like her, but that was totally besides the point.

A few minutes later they arrived. Being carried carefully through the doors, Sakura felt the cold slip away, being replaced with a warm caress, heating up her skin and leaving behind a tingling sensation, from the rapid change in temperature. The music was loud with a fast rhythm and out on the dance floor she could see couples and young shinobi out having a good time. Why did she never do things like this? Why didn't she go out with her girls and party till the morning, and find herself a decent boyfriend in the process? Because she didn't have time that's why, she barely had time to look after herself, never mind party.

As Kano made his way through the crowd, green eyes glittered with amusement, as her fellow drunken shinobi whistled and hooted, shouting incoherent words at them as they passed. After a few minutes she paid them no mind, they weren't in here for a laugh or to knock back a few drinks, they were here to find the co-captain of torture and interrogation and his assistant.

Sakura's petal-hair turned an -even more- exotic shade of neon pink, in the flashy lights as she was carried swiftly passed the dance floor. Sakura focused her gaze over Kano's shoulder and the cool porcelain mask lightly brushed her cheek causing her to shiver. She didn't blush or outwardly show any signs of the incident and neither did he -that was not the type of relationship she had with her comrade, it was strictly professional; albeit on more friendlier terms, than most ANBU squads, with him acting every part the big brother- so she flicked her gaze to the passing dance floor, there were few that she recognised, but they were only jounin and chuunin alike that she would see from time to time as they came to report-- in Tsunade's office.

Kano abruptly put her down, though carefully, and Sakura caught his golden eyes through the holes in the front of his dark-blue ANBU mask, for a split second.

He must have seen the confused look on her face because he elaborated, "We need to look, _professional. _Were here on business _not leisure_." That same old cheeky smirk crept up the corner of his lips-- though she couldn't see it, she knew it was there.

Playfully swatting him on his arm she said, "Hai, and that was a very professional manner in the way you saved me, swept me of my feet and carried me bridal style into the local pub, K- ANBU-san." she quickly corrected, she couldn't use his name out in public, it would completely defeat the object of him wearing the mask.

"Well I couldn't let you drop to an early grave, taichou, and I couldn't risk it happening again." he said very matter-of-factly.

With a quick nod of her head Sakura lead the rest of the way towards one of the lounges on the other end of the bar. Sat on a couch in the far corner was the assistant in question Anko, looking every bit like she was trying to seduce Shiranui Genma; whilst the co-captain, Idate, was sat cross legged, with her former sensei, Hatake Kakashi, reading identical purple volumes of Icha Icha.

Sakura shook her head. Typical. Did they do anything but drink and think about sex on their time off? Well she supposed she couldn't complain atleast this way they were easy to find. Oh how Kakashi would reprimand her for thinking this way, she'd get the serious- 'its not porn its literature, a romance novel to be exact.' _An unmistakably rude romance novel at that, _she thought to herself. She inwardly mused whether they were on the same page.

"Haruno!" Genma shouted over the music, waving her over in a welcoming gesture, as he nodded at her ANBU companion.

"Genma." she greeted, walking over and sitting in between him and the purple-haired kunoichi.

He pulled her into an affectionate hug, then ruffling her long loose tresses he said: "Where have you been Kiddo? We've not had a drinking contest in how long.. Come to think of it, when's the last time you've chilled out and had a drink, aay, what do you want? This rounds on me." He offered cheerfully.

Good old Genma, he was never one to selfishly leave anyone out, he was genuinely a happy and carefree guy, always putting others before himself. As she looked into his friendly chocolate eyes, she found it hard to say no - he just had that charm, the one that so many men thought they had but barely scratched the surface of; it was the looks, the personality and the easily approachable aura he gave off- but it had to be done, as Kano frankly put it before-- they were on business not leisure.

Putting a delicate hand on his shoulder she said, "Am afraid I'm working at the moment, but next time I swing by ill have that drink, okay?" she finished giving him a promising squeeze.

And then he gave her the lip, sticking it out in a upset manner. She almost sighed -almost- and waited for whatever vow he would propose, because she knew it was coming, she always did. "Ne Sakura-chan, you always say that. I'll only let you go if you promise." he whined in a very Naruto-ish way, latching on to her arm like she would disappear any moment.

"I promise, how does this time next week sound? Genma-kun." She knew she had a busy week ahead, so she would allow herself atleast one night, after all it would be the first one in ages.

"Hai, Hai. It's a date then." The chocolate haired jounin smiled triumphantly.

"Maybe." she replied with a mischievous smile.

Looking around she noticed Kakashi and Idate were both peering over the tops of their pervy little books, obviously amused at her interaction with their company. Still smiling she uttered a quick hello, silently berating herself for being as rude as to forget, "Hi, Kakashi-sempai, Idate."

"Yo." was the silver-haired jounin's reply.

As for Morino, he had a look of mock hurt, "I cant believe your gonna cheat on me," Turning his face away he added, "and arranging it right under my nose like that."

"No Morino, it would only count as cheating if you was actually going out with her." Anko laughed, sending a wink Sakura's way and she couldn't help but join in.

"You cut me deep." was all he said holding his book hand above his heart, with the fakest sniffles she had ever heard. Anko was rolling with laughter, even the infamous copy-nin and Kano chuckled.

The pink haired kunoichi cut the silence that followed as everybody calmed down, "I'd really love to stay and chat, but ive been long enough as it is, Morino, Mitarashi, your needed in the basement." There was no need to elaborate, they understood.

As the two and Sakura got up to leave with Kano, who was stood a little ways off, Kakashi quickly asked, "Your not too busy for training tomorrow, are you?"

Looking back she replied, "I should be able to squeeze in two maybe three hours as long as your on time."

"2 0'clock then, training ground four." With a nod of agreement Sakura and the others left in a hurry.

* * *

"ANBU-sama, no running through the hospital please!" a flustered nurse called after him, having nearly been run over in his haste.

"My apologies!" He called behind him.

A light-blonde male came skidding to a halt on the staff floor, after running up six flights of stairs. Taking a quick breather, he continued on his way down the long cold corridors -using the swipe card sakura had given him to get through the necessary doors- to the large office marked, Head of hospital: Haruno Sakura.The soft jingle of keys could be heard in the unnervingly silent corridor, as Aki reached into his pocket and pulled out his captains keys. Putting the correct metal object in to the hole, he turned it until he heard the telltale click signalling the door was unlocked and he then rushed inside.

The room was the same as it had always been; a thick cream carpet covered the floor, the lower half of the room was painted in -a mix of crimson and emerald- alexandrite, whilst the top half including the ceiling was cream, bordering the two colours was a thin, flower carved wooden border. Inky eyes fell upon the desk in the middle back of the room that he was looking for; making his way over, he opened the top draw and found the bag he came for. Zipping it open to check the contents, their were a mixture of different coloured vials, of what he presumed was medicine, as well as a few empty ones tucked securely in the side; three strips of gauze were rolled neatly to the side along with different types of scissors and a set of scalpels; there was a mini pouch which he thought might contain some sort of needles and thread, a bottle of Sakura's home-made eye drops, plasma pills -to rebuild blood cells- half a dozen soldier pills -for emergency's only- alcho wipes, a package of disposable latex gloves and half a litre bottle of alcohol.

Zipping it quickly shut, he strapped it round his waist -how sakura wears it- and left the room locking it behind him; with one thought in mind, _so well prepared, even though she's a top medical ninja and probably doesn't need half of those things._

_

* * *

_

Down in the dark basement of the Akatsuki hideout in Amegakure, seven members were present as the leader was holding a meeting. The only lighting in the room came from the transparent, multi-coloured holograms of the sharingan master, Samehada's wielder and the green fly-trap; who were currently out on missions, and only in the room through a state of consciousness.

Each member was sat around a circular table next to their respective partners; except for Deidara of course, who was waiting for his partner to get back -from where ever he had been for the past week- and so was everyone else for that matter.

"Ahh, I'm sick of this crap! Why the heck does this asshole always have to be late?!" the silver-haired shinobi from Yugakure snapped.

"Watch your tongue, Hidan. He is still a member, have some respect." the leader sternly reprimanded.

"Fine, Leader-_sama,_ fine." Hidan grumbled rudely.

The young blonde then felt a pair of piercing ringed eyes glaring daggers at him from across the table and he instinctively felt himself shrink into his chair under the scrutinizing gaze, like a frightened little animal. It was so.. Intimidating.

"Deidara."

He inadvertently flinched. The way his name was spoken was deceptively calm, though spoken quietly Deidara could physically feel the anger radiating off of him, and it was chilling. It was rare that the leader got or more like, showed his anger; he was pissed, the blonde deduced but they had been waiting a little over half an hour, so it was to be expected.

"Hai, Leader-sama, un." he successfully managed to keep the fright out of his voice, though that was probably only due to his anger. Why was he getting in trouble, when Hidan was the one using foul language?

"Where is your partner?" the Rinnegan-user spoke icily.

Deidara bit back his retort, not understanding why all this anger was directed at him and answered truthfully. "I don't know, yeah. Ive not seen him all week. Said he had business to take care of." Deidara snorted. Somehow the words _Tobi_ and _business_ didn't quite go together.

There was a pause, "So desuka."

Azure eyes darted angrily to the door. For a moment he wondered what the hell he did so wrong in a past life to get stuck with an idiot for a partner; and what makes it worse is, he'd be in deep shit if anything were to _accidentally _happen to Tobi-- Leader already made that clear. Damn him, he always managed to get him in trouble, whether he was here or not. Like it was his fault his partner was late. Again. What annoyed Deidara to no end though was the fact that his orange-masked partner would get let off with a smack on the wrist at most.

Not a minute later, the sound of humming travelled to them from the corridor outside the room. By the sound of it, the owner of the voice was moving at a leisurely pace. Deidara felt his blood boil. How dare he be merrily humming away, when he was in here practically getting his head bit off._ For something he didn't even do!_ The heavy-metal door slowly creaked open, bathing the room in a yellowish whiteglow. It looked like a piece of heavenly art and yet it didn't fit them at all, no matter how much Pein proclaimed himself god and Konan his angel; at the moment, they looked like devils plotting evil deeds in the pits of hell-- minus the flames.

A man donning the Akatsuki attire, with an orange swirl-mask stood in the door way, waving like an imbecile. "Konban wa!"

"Tobi, Kono yarou, un!" the blonde shouted. His lips thinned in a line as a hand went to his clay pouch, sat comfortably on his hip.

The blonde watched Tobi flinch and take a step back. He started waving his gloved hands about in front of himself in a panicked manner. "No-no, chotto, D-Deidara-sempai. Please, Tobi didn't do anything!" He exclaimed, stuttering slightly.

"Deidara, deal with the matter on your own time. Tobi, you need to stop this habit of being late."

_See, a smack on the wrist,_ Deidara found himself thinking."Oi Tobi, after this meeting it was foretold that there will be a fated meeting between my foot and your ass, un!" the stone-shinobi warned._

* * *

_

_Terminologies:  
Daijoubu?- are you okay.  
Datenshi- fallen angel.  
Hai- yes.  
Ne- Kind of like: 'say' or 'don't you agree.'  
Konban wa- good evening.  
Kono Yarou- is basically 'you bastard' or 'this bastard.'  
Chotto- wait a minute._

_If I missed anything just let me know, I dont think i did I missed anything just let me know, I dont think i did though.I bet your all confused, huh? I'm not going to explain though, not yet atleast. Am i evil or what?  
This is the first twist in the plot, lemme know what you think, okay?_

_Ive just started college last week, and ive already got my first assignment : Grrr lol. Am also sorting out the plot and need a bit of time, soo I made this chapter longer than I will be normally making them, as an apology in advance, since I don't know when the next chapter will be done._

_Again reviews will be much appreciated, Arigatou to anyone who does._

_Ja ne.  
**Rudii**eee-**Miko**mi x  
_

_

* * *

_

* * *


	3. Chapter Two, Swirl Masked Captive

* * *

Chapter Two: Swirl-Masked Captive.

* * *

Sakura walked into the windowless room of cell Juuroku; Kano, Anko and Idate in tow. Looking over to the single bed, in the corner of the stone cold vault, she noticed their swirl-masked captive; strapped firmly down, by thick belt bindings. Sat on top the dark-wooden desk, opposite the bed was Aki, leaning back lazily on his elbows; Neji and Shikamaru stood on either side of him, in a protective manner, tense and looking ready to attack. She smiled at this, _surely he isn__'__t that dangerous, you would have thought three ANBU members were enough to a keep a defenceless criminal in his place, _she thought amusedly to herself.

Hearing the door click loudly behind them, she watched on as the blonde snapped his head up quickly, to peer at the entry. Upon seeing them he jumped off his perch, unclipping the black pouch from his waist, whilst he casually walked over to them.

"Sakura-san, here." He passed the medical pouch he went to retrieve earlier, over to its owner, keys and all. "What took ya?"

She uttered one word. "Datenshi." And the exuberant blonde burst out in laughter.

"Hey. You little maggot!" Anko exclaimed, purple eyes narrowing, daring him to say a word.

"Maa maa, Anko-san." Aki said, putting his hands up in surrender; he then went back to his previously vacated spot.

The two brunette members of team Kyuu seemed to relax, now that there

was more capable shinobi present; more power to team up with, should a problem arise.

Now that Sakura had gathered together the essential people and items, she thought it best to explain things to the new comers; she definitely needed to, before they burst, asking her a million questions, that she had yet to find the answers too herself.

She turned then to the only unmasked people in the room besides herself, "On the way back from a mission yesterday at approximately nine-thirty, these four ran into an Akatsuki member." She pointed over to the bed; allowed time for some gasps and then continued, as they already knew not to interrupt. "He was blocking their path and they ended up having to engage him in battle. His motives are unknown, as well as the reason he was there. They rendered him unconscious and brought him back to Konoha without further problems, also he was travelling alone."

"You mean he was travelling without a partner?!" Anko exclaimed, as Sakura finished explaining the mission report. The pink-haired kunoichi nodded once. "He must _really_ think he's.. something." she muttered dryly.

"Where did you run into him?" Idate directed his question to the temporary team.

"River country." Kano answered.

"Hmm.." the purple-eyed woman hummed, wearing a thoughtful expression, "..So, where do we start?"

"Lets wait for Tsunade-sama, she'll tell us what to do." Sakura resolved.

Neji stepped forward then, "Hokage-sama wishes for you to deal with this case, Sakura-sama. She said to keep her posted on whatever we find."

"Thank-you for informing me about that, Neji." Sakura replied after a moment. Their was no point reprimanding Neji about his unnecessary suffix use, he was a proud man of honour and would not hear any of it; but unlike Izumo, she understood, as much as she disapproved, he was a branch member of an important clan, that knew his place and respected others, calling them by the titles they deserved. Changing subject she said: "So, we should start by seeing who he is, ne? I take it you haven't had a look at his identity yet, he easily could have been lying."

The byakugan-user shook his head.

"Okay, we'll do that first." turning to the interrogators she filled them in on the rest. "You two will interrogate him through any means necessary, as is your specialty, at whatever time of day or night that you wish; as long as you get the job done. I will heal any injuries until were done with him. Hyuuga, Suzuki, Reizo and Nara will be on guard duty around the clock." She looked at them all then, face serious, "Ive been thinking, and came up with a suitable time table. You will meet here every twelve hours and switch with whoever is on duty before you, you'll each be on watch for three hours at a time, so it shouldn't mess too much with your normal day to day routines; and don't worry, ill make sure you all get a decent pay-- infact ill sign the checks myself, at the end of all this."

Nods of agreement went all round.

"I knew I always liked you." Mitarashi was saying cheerfully.

"Man, you really should think about being Rokudaime, you know?" Suzuki added, inky eyes looking at her sincerely, through the holes in his mask.

Sakura sighed. It wasn't that they didn't understand her reasoning, especially her two team-mates _yin and yang, _as she liked to call them, they understood well that she could never betray a comrade, a friend like that. She just wasn't that type of person. She was like a maelstrom of emotion, one minute she could be happy, then the next sad or angry even; but very much like Kano, she looked at the effect her actions would have on others before executing them, at how it would make her feel if someone did that to her-- took her dream away.

The majority of the villagers and shinobi of Konoha had grown to like, and even respect her best friend over the years; they see him as Naruto now, the blonde hyperactive knucklehead, and not the evil demon Kyuubi. The chances of his dream coming true were currently higher than he ever imagined them to be -as he would often tell her- he had a chance to fufil that dream now, and anyone willing to stand in his way would be terribly sorry, because Sakura would make them pay very dearly.

It was Neji that broke her train of thought. "You know as well as I do that Uzumaki is training very hard in order to have that title, to change the village and clans for the better, and to get rid of the current council, of elders, for more suitable candidates. It is his dream and he will go at any lengths to fufil it. Sakura-sama is a great person, and very good choice for Rokudaime Hokage, but because it is not her dream, something that she does not want to do, there is no drive; that is what makes Uzumaki the better candidate."

Momentarily startled in surprise, the pink-haired kunoichi didn't know what to do or say. She had known Neji was a very perspective person, but not that much so. Where as before he used to be ignorant to other peoples views and beliefs, now even if he disagreed, he still listened to what they had to say and thought it over.

"Thanks again, Neji." she felt her cheeks grow humbly warm and decided to get all this over with tonight, "Okay everyone. Mitarashi will remove his mask; once we know his identity, you and Morino will be dismissed; talk, sleep on it, do whatever it is that you do; we will meet in the main interrogation room, at ten in the morning, to discuss the information we will need from him, before you proceed ahead with the interrogation."

"..Oh," the emerald-eyed taichou of the investigation added as an after thought, "I need you both to separately think up reasons why an enemy would block your path, and not retaliate when you attacked."

"..you mean he didn't fight back?" Anko asked in astonishment.

"Iie, he did not." Reizo replied for her, every ounce of suspicion he was feeling, lacing his voice.

"What the fuck?" Mitarashi whispered in shock, "Who the heck doesn't fight back when being attacked by the enemy?" She frowned.

"My point exactly." Haruno stated, her own frown darkening her own brows. She just didn't get it at all. Why didn't he fight back? Was he out of chakra or something?

Just before she had the chance to ask this to the byakugan-user, her blonde comrade spoke up, "Not that we're complaining, right?"

"Definitely not. He was a formidable enough opponent just dodging, let alone counter-attacking our blows. It could have been troublesome, who knows what could have happened; but one thing we do know for certain, is that he wouldn't be here right now, which leads us back to the question at hand." The Nara genius cleared up.

"True." Kano agreed.

"Was he out of chakra or something? I mean it is plausible, given the time of day and since he was travelling. Neji?"

"Iie, he had plenty."

"So desuka. Well as I was saying, Morino, Mitarashi, come up with some theory's, will you? And later we'll get some answers."

The said ANBU members nodded.

Turning on her heel, Sakura moved over to the dusty chalkboard positioned on the wall, behind the desk; picking up the only remaining chalk, she begun to write as she spoke, "This will be the timetable."

_-Hyuuga, 10PM. Nara, 1AM-_

"As I said before; the rota is: you work three hours, every twelve..."

_-Reizo, 4AM. Suzuki, 7AM-_

"We will be living with radio's for the time being, in-case of emergency's…"

_-Hyuuga, 10AM. Nara,1Pm.-_

"Reizo, could you hand them out for me please, they're in the third draw down."

_-Reizo, 4PM. Suzuki, 7PM-_

"They are not to be taken out under any circumstances. They're tiny so nobody will spot them unless they're looking for them and they're also waterproof, ect.. We will also be working from a surname basis."

"Mitarashi, you may remove the mask now." The pink-haired ANBU captain added as an after thought, as Kano had passed her, her ear piece and mic. Pointing at the black-board she continued: "This is your rota. Ive made it as easy as I can too remember, if you somehow manage to forget," She looked pointedly at Aki, "Just drop by and have a look. Hyuuga you will be on duty every ten 0clock; Nara, one. Reizo, four, and Suzuki, seven. So yeah.."

"What the!.." Anko promptly cut her off, catching each individuals attention.

Sakura watched on in _secret_ awe, as the purple-haired kunoichi made to pull the orange mask off their captive a second and third, even fourth time, but Anko's hand seemed to never come into contact with the orange swirled porcelain; there was a fraction of movement if you looked close enough, she noticed, other than that it just looked like the kunoichi's hand kept going through his face.

Clasping her hands together tightly through frustration, Anko stopped the flow of her chakra for a second, and hissed, "Kai!" Trying to dispel, what she thought was a Genjutsu. She went for the mans face again, albeit a little more viciously this time, but to no avail. Folding her fingers in the stationary hand sign, she tried to dispel the illusion again, "Kai, kai, _kai, kai, kai_." she spat through clenched teeth.

..But it still didn't work.

* * *

"Deidara, deal with the matter on your own time. Tobi, you need to stop this habit of being late."

_See, a smack on the wrist, _Deidara found himself thinking."Oi Tobi, after this meeting it was foretold that there will be a fated meeting between my foot and your ass, un!" the stone-shinobi warned.

Kisame erupted in a roar of laughter, shortly followed by Hidan.

* * *

The masked-shinobi closed the door behind him, shrouding the room in a thick blanket of darkness; then walked over and took his place next to his partner, who still looked irked. He couldn't care less though.

Smirking to himself, he addressed the leader, "So, Leader-sama, would you like to start." He felt everyone's gaze fall on him as he spoke, but kept his gaze fixed firmly on the leader, patiently waiting for him to reply.

Tobi could feel the suppressed waves of irritation rolling of the orange-haired Ame shinobi, he doubted that anybody else would be able to feel them though, Pein probably didn't even know he could.

After three winks, he calmly replied, "Hai, Tobi. A group of spies were sent to Kakuza's bookie's in fire country to get any information they could on our organization. Apparently one was killed and the other interrogated."

"Deidara, Tobi. You are both to meet with the bookie and find out what was not written in the message and report back. We need to find where they're from and who sent them; also we need to know how much the enemy found out."

Tobi and his partner nodded. "Hai. Leave it all to Tobi and Deidara-sempai, we'll sort it out."

"Tobi, do you have to be so enthusiastic all the time? un."

"Hmm-hmm." Tobi hummed merrily to himself.

"Good." The leader approved. "Now, If any of you hear of this happening again, inform me as soon as possible."

"So, who do you think it could be?" The silhouette of a large multi-coloured shark asked.

"I have no idea." The light-side of Zetsu replied, Whereas his dark-side said, **"****I bet its those goody goody Konoha brats.****"**The lighter-side quickly amended his darker-sides rudeness. "No offence Itachi-san."

"None taken." the Uchiha confirmed, crimson eyes piercing through the darkness, an unreadable expression adorning his features.

The leader had a thoughtful expression as he addressed his most prized member. "Itachi, how's the mission going so far?"

Said member looked back expressionlessly at him, "Hn."

His partner realising that he would not say, then answered, "Six down." He grinned showing a white row of his shark-like teeth, "Two to go."

The leader then nodded curtly, "Very well, report back to this base when you are done. What about you, Zetsu?"

"It seems Suna have stopped issuing missions to hunt down Akatsuki for quite sometime; and their guard has lowered tremendously, the reason being that we're laying low, so were not a problem for the time being; I overheard in a meeting. **The Kazekage is too soft. **I will be making my way to konoha shortly. **Again, another bag of pussys.**"

"Their will be no need." Pein ordered with one final look at Tobi, who inclined his head ever so slightly, that it went unnoticed by the others. "Everybody dismissed."

That being the final word the astro-projections of Itachi, Kisame and Zetsu flickered out of existents, leaving no trace behind to show that they were ever there; it was like switching of the light in a room at night, the others were left in pitch black.

"Thank Fuckin Jashin-sama!" Hidan exclaimed, quickly vacating the room, but not before tripping over a chair, "You faggot."

A _tch _was heard from the only female member.

* * *

Deidara was walking down the long corridor that split at the end, going in one direction to his quarters and the other Tobi's. At this minute in time he was arguing with his partner; still beyond annoyed, Tobi still deserved a good kick up the ass, as far as he was concerned.

They came to an abrupt halt as they reached the end of the corridor, to finish up their argument before going their own ways for the night.

"Who the fuck is Squirrel-san, Yeah!?!" the blonde shouted.

"Um well.. the most cutest little brown fur-ball of a rodent you will ever see, sempai, really! He let me cuddle him and I was going to take him home with me but then…" Tobi explained.

_Ohh gods no, _Was all that came to mind. Deidara had had enough, he just couldn't believe he got in trouble from leader because of Tobi being late, from playing with a squirrel; not an enemy, a cute little squirrel. He secretly made a vow to blow up the next squirrelly-rodent he saw.

His anger deflating a bit, he sighed. Sometimes looking after his partner was like looking after a small child, he was just so carefree and innocent; and he suddenly decided that maybe that wasn't such a bad thing. He vaguely wondered if he was like Tobi when it came to his art with Sasori his deceased partner. Suddenly he realized that he just couldn't be mad anymore, because if he wasn't dragged into Akatsuki he would probably be like Tobi, just a tiny bit _less _innocent; he was forced to grow up, being brought into a criminal organisation at just fourteen, and that just maybe, he didn't want Tobi to grow up.

Patting his orange-masked partner on the top of the head, he assuredly explained, "Its alright Tobi, am not mad.. Just try not to be so late next time, hmm, you keep getting me in trouble, yeah."

The dark-haired member shoved his hand off, in what seemed like childish annoyance; But then his aura changed back to cheerful in a split second.

"Hai, Deidara-sempai." he saluted.

"Good boy, Tobi." Deidara said with a light chuckle, "Go to bed now yeah, we have to be up and out early in the morning."

"Mm-mm." Tobi complied, "Goodnight sempai." he added before skipping off, down his corridor, singing, "Tobi is a good boy, good boy, good boy. Tobi is a good boy, good boy, good boy. La-la-la-la-la."

Deidara watched him go. "Night Tobi." He then sighed, turned and walked down his corridor to hop into bed.

* * *

"What the hell his going on!?" Anko was saying now.

Sakura finally coming out of her daze stepped forwards, until she was stood beside the irate purple-haired kunoichi. Breaking her chakra flow for a split second, she placed two fingers on the side of the captives head, "Kai."

She then went to remove the annoying mask herself, but she watched on as her hand seemed to go through his mask, just as Anko's had.

"Its not Genjutsu then, Sakura-san would have been able to dispel it otherwise." She heard Kano's voice float from behind her.

"What do you mean?" she asked as she spun around to face him. Everyone else was looking at him quizzically as well, except for Aki, who also knew of her illusionary expertise.

"This is the same technique he was using to avoid our attacks. You're a Genjutsu specialist, if it was that type of jutsu you would've been able to dispel it." he explained calmly.

"Aa." she replied after a moment. This was no good, she would have to drain most of his chakra first then, it seemed.

"Troublesome." she heard Shikamaru mutter.

"Troublesome indeed, Nara." she agreed, thinking the exact same thing herself. "I'm going to have to drain his chakra first. Or there's no way I can see us getting this mask off. It's a shame Kakashi isn't in on this investigation, his sharingan would be useful in helping figure out what kind of jutsu he is using." She said the last part with pure displeasure, she didn't like him already.

_He__'__s so stubborn, just like Sasuke, if their were more Uchiha__'__s left, I would have said he was one, _she thought reminiscently to herself. Letting out a long ragged sigh, she ordered, "Alright, meetings over. Everyone go home and rest up; Hyuuga could you start your guard duty, Nara be back here for one. Mitarashi, Morino, don't forget the meeting at ten. I'm going to stay behind and finish up here. Dismissed."

Every one started filling out, bidding eachother goodnight. Sakura was waiting for the door to shut behind them, but she watched as Neji waited hesitantly at the door.

"If you need anything, just call." he said as he walked out the door, not waiting for a reply.

"Iie, it wont be necessary." Came a voice from behind her.

She jumped slightly, but other than that there was no reaction, she knew that voice. Sakura had wondered where he had disappeared off to, but now realized, embarrassedly that he never left.

Turning around, golden met emerald.

"I'll be fine Reizo, really." she reassured her comrade. But he wasn't having any of it.

"That may be true, however, I don't trust him." He said, and continued very matter-of-factly, "Plus, he can still use jutsu. I'll stay with you until the serum takes effect."

"Very well." she agreed reluctantly, after a pause. He was indeed another stubborn one, very Uchiha-ish, if Sasuke was one to go by; but she knew he was watching out for her, he only meant well.

* * *

Kano carefully watched on as Sakura unzipped the black pouch at her hip and rummaged through it, almost silently. After a moment he heard the, "Ahh-ha," when she found what she was looking for.

She then pulled out a small clear vial, containing a chakra-green coloured cloudy liquid. It was a different colour than the usual that the medics used on captive patients.

"What's this serum?" he asked her, as she pulled out a syringe.

"Well.." she started, brows knitted together in concentration as she pulled the top of the instrument up, in affect sucking a measured amount of the medication into it. "Its this new drug I made; rather than the usual one where it immobilizes the body, and then having to stick chakra seals on the patients arm to drain their chakra; this one does everything in one dose. It first stops the brain sending certain signals to the rest of the body, making it unable to move, as well as temporarily stopping chakra reproduction, well at the same time making the pain reciprocators feel things stronger, the captive is still able to feel pain, just a lot more than they normally would. It makes the torture procedures a lot more effective."

"Well, I cant say am not impressed." Kano replied to her explanation. He'd never heard of a drug that could do so much in one small dose, Sakura's medical knowledge and techniques were amazing, he was lucky to have such an incredible medic on his team. If he were to ever be injured badly on a mission, he would have a better chance at surviving than someone with an ordinary medic-nin on their team, that was for sure. "You never fail to surprise me."

"Well I did train under Tsunade-sama, its to be expected." she replied offhandedly, whilst pulling up the captives sleeve so she could inject the serum into his arm.

He had a tight top on underneath though and he could see his pink-haired comrade struggling to pull it up, trying to keep a grip on the syringe all at the same time.

She was never one to ask for help, he sighed. Walking up to the side of the bed, he gave her a hand. Tobi was frantically trying to pull his arm away by that point though, and it he was making it increasingly difficult for Sakura to even be able to inject the needle in the right place. When did he even regain consciousness? Had he been listening the whole time? Not that it mattered, he was their _captive_ and once Sakura got this in him there was no chance he would be able to escape.

On closer inspection, the dark-haired male realized, that the problem wasn't that the top was tight, but the nuts and bolts, along the outer part of the sleeve. _Strange. _That type of clothing was usually used for battle armour, but that wasn't it; the pieces were too small to be armour, any decent katana could shred through the thin sheets of black metal, without an elemental affinity backing it up. So what were the metal disks for?

"No, what are you doing?!" he was wailing now as Sakura attached a long, thin needle to the end of the syringe, "Leave Tobi alone. He doesn't want that stuff."

"Gomen.. Err, Tobi, but you don't get a say in this, alright." Sakura said to him in a dangerously quiet voice.

"Iie, stop." the mask shinobi whispered trembling, "Tobi doesn't like needles. Stop before you scare him."

The pink-haired kunoichi stopped and gave him a look that said something along the lines of, _are you mentally unstable? _Then she grinned evilly._  
_  
"Well tell _Tobi_ not to worry too much. This will be nothing compared to the terrible things, him and his organization do to _innocent_ people." she spat at him then.

Kano could feel her anger boiling, it was clouding up the atmosphere, in a suffocating way. He had never seen her so angry before; but he took the guess that those innocent people she was talking about were jinchuuriki, put short, Naruto. Ohh how he felt sorry for this captive, she was going to put him through hell.

He turned his head to the side, about to ask her if she needed any assistance, when his petal-haired kunoichi put the injection side ways in her mouth, enhanced her strength by flowing chakra through her arms and pulled his sleeve back. So instead he opted for holding the mans shoulders down.

Sakura moved to put the empty used needle in the yellow plastic tub in the corner of the room. Not a minute too soon did the masked Akatsuki go limp under his hold; not only that but he seemed awfully quiet, for a man -or boy- who was whimpering not too long ago.

Kano then looked to the pink-haired medic quizzically.

She frowned, before she begrudgingly admitted, "It had a sedative in that one too."

"Incredible." was all he uttered. Sakura was truly amazing; she always came up with unthinkable, what he would have thought impossible, things. She was a real genius. He had no doubt in his mind that she was the main reason why their team got so many mission requests from other villages.

The job was done, for now; all that was left was to go home for some much needed rest, which they gladly did with a sigh of relief as they exited the room, bidding Neji goodnight on their way out.

* * *

_A/N: Mozilla Firefox fixed all my uploading problems.. Yaaaay XD_

Well, am not too sure if I liked this chapter myself, but it had a few things that I needed to get out of the way. So you have my apologies, if you found this particular chapter boring.

_On a more positive note, I did like the Tobi and Deidara scene, I thought it was sweet._

_Ignore Itachi and Kisame's mission, it has no relevants to the story, I just wanted them to be out on a mission. Tobi and Dei's on the other hand, I think you'll find more interesting. __J_

_Urm.. Tobi's mask, yeah, I added that as I don't see anybody taking of Tobi's mask without his permission; but I do believe they would have to unmask a captive, soo yeah._

_Reviews,, am not too happy about those.. Where are they people?? :/_

_Now before I go, I just want to let you guys know that I will be updating this story around the 10__th__ of every month. (Y)_

_And only because of my two faithful reviewers, **Namikaze_VS_Uchiha **and **JuubiNoOkami**.. Soo to all you people that like to read without reviewing, you should be thanking them for the continuation of this story. Also, I'd like to say thanks to **Klutz's Library **for putting it in the community and **sakuratherocker **for putting it on alert._

_Ja ne..  
**Rudii**eee-**Miko**mii**.x**_


	4. Chapter Three, The Little Gift Shop

* * *

Chapter Three: The little gift shop.  


* * *

The first rays of sunrise peeked through the curtains and into a sleeping kunoichi's face. There was a soft mumble, a rustle of sheets, and then she flipped the blanket over her face. She felt like she hadn't slept at all, and besides, it was too early to get up.. _Wait, the sun doesn__'__t rise till atleast half past eight.  
_  
She jumped out her bed with only the speed a shinobi could manage, taking a glance at the clock on her way to her wardrobe. It was quarter to ten. _Oh great, _she thought, _there goes breakfast with Naruto. _Every morning when she and Naruto were still in the village and not away on missions, they would both meet at the Ichiraku ramen stand, and have breakfast for old time sakes; though lately Sakura had been getting up far to late, or had been a little to busy to sit around in the mornings.

Pulling on a red, off the shoulder dress, she then made her way across the hall towards the bathroom, to wash her face and brush her teeth. Now with just ten minutes to make her way to the cells in the hokage towers basement, without being seen, the pink-haired kunoichi shoved her long hair back into a messy bun, pulled her boots on, and headed out the door, tying her red Hitai-ate firmly in place around her neck; mentally preparing herself for another long and stressful day.

* * *

  
The emerald-eyed captain came to a quick stop, as she reached the cell numbered juuroku. Stood outside guarding the door was her blonde team-mate, casually leaning against the door.

"Ohayo, Aki-san." she greeted.

"Ohayo, Sakura-san." she watched as he looked her over, "You look like shit."

"No need to tell me something I don't know." she said with a serious face, but burst into light laughter shortly after,"Ive not been up fifteen minutes yet."

Aki laughed with her then, "Terrible taichou, just terrible."

Sakura wanted to see what their captive was up too, but unfortunately for her, she couldn't see through brick walls; sometimes she really did wish she had a dojutsu, the byakugan would be handy right about now. "How has the captive been? Has he woken up at all?" she then decided to ask Aki instead.

"I really don't know what you did to him last night taichou, but ive not heard a word from him at all. None of the others have mentioned any problems with him either." he reported.

"Aa, well you see, what I did is a secret." she smirked then at the frightened look in his inky orbs. "But good, I would have been very annoyed if he tried to cause a ruckus."

"Remind me not to be around, if he ever decides to cause a _ruckus_ then."

"I'll try." They laughed.

"Anyways I have a meeting with Morino and his assistant at the moment, but could you tell Neji that I'll be here after to sort him out."

"Hai. See you later."

"Ja ne." she waved as she disappeared round the corner, making her way to the main interrogation room.  
_

* * *

  
_The morning air was chilly up in the sky, it had a misty sort of atmosphere to it. It was damp, was the only way Tobi could describe it. At the moment he was sat on the back of a giant clay bird, with his partner. It was a handy jutsu his partner had, he had to admit, it was much better than travelling all the way through river, and across the borders into fire country. It would have taken atleast two days worth of travel to get there, and if he had to walk, the swirl-masked male, would be most unhappy.

The clouds were full of rain water, gloomy looking, all thick and grey, covering most of the sky, and obscuring the suns raise from warming them up a bit. The dark-haired shinobi was freezing, even in his cosy Akatsuki cloak. He didn't ever remember fire country being so cold. Come to think of it, it had been a while since he paid his birthplace a visit. Not that he had any reason to, there was nothing their for him now. It was nothing more than a name to him, a place on the map, a shinobi village to rival, war with even.

They had been flying two hours straight, and Tobi was starting to get bored, there was absolutely nothing to do. He had already busied himself with looking at all the houses, that looked like pretty little dots from way up where he was sat; he even counted for his sempai, all the lights that he watched extinguish, as the morning got a tad brighter.

The only other thing he could think of doing was winding his blonde sempai up. So he did just that. "Deidara-sempai, are we there yet?"

"Not yet." he replied, noncommittally.

"But Tobi's cold!" he exclaimed.

"Well deal with it, yeah."

The orange-masked shinobi sighed. So much for plan A, now it was time for plan B. If his sempai wasn't going to pay him any attention, he would make sure that he had no other choice. Carelessly leaning back on his forearms, he said, "Tobi wonders if he can fly."

Then he slid of the side of the bird; and watched as azure eyes widened in panic for a split second, before his partners clay creation swooped down beneath him, stopping midair. Tobi landed on the top with a soft thud, before he had time to even get up, Deidara was on him like a hot rash, squeezing his hands around his throat.

"Baka!" the blonde exclaimed, and he looked livid, Tobi deduced from his expression.

"Y-yamero, Sen-pai. Your hurting.. Tobi." He gasped in between breaths.

"Ill show you pain yeah!" Deidara yelled at him in frustration. "Why do you always have to do stupid things like that for attention, un?"

"Because, I was bored obviously." he replied, crossing his arms over his chest, and turning his head to the side, away from the blonde's grasp.

Letting go of his hold around his neck -and being too annoyed to notice that his partner spoke in first person- Deidara said, "Well it was stupid, don't you think, un? You could have gotten hurt; leader would have killed me yeah, he would have thought I did it on purpose."

"Well if you didn't hurt Tobi all the time, then maybe he wouldn't think that.. Duh." was all the masked shinobi said, before lying down and taking a nap.

Within minutes he was catching Z's.  


* * *

The head of the investigation, and two interrogators were in the middle of a debate; the subject being, why would Tobi block their path and then not retaliate when he was being attacked?-- which was written on a large paper flip-pad in a bubble, left forgotten on the desk.

They were currently in the main room, in the hokage towers basement, where they had been for the past three hours. Anko was sat cross-legged, with a box of traffic-light coloured dango's, happily stuffing her face, with her favourite food. Idate had his Icha Icha book open on the table, and was now staring at it as if just looking at it would give him the answers they needed. And Sakura was pacing up and down the room silently, thinking.

The pink-haired kunoichi had absolutely no idea on the matter at first, and thought that it may have just been an issue of underestimation; Akatsuki were well known for being big headed, after all, the group was made out of ten shinobi, aiming for world domination. The purple-haired assistant thought that that might be it as well; either that, or Tobi was clearly insane. Other reasons to their theory were, he could have been bored, and just wanted to pick a fight; but when Idate mentioned infiltration, they decided that the masked-captive wouldn't have known that he would have been brought back to Konoha, the ANBU orders could easily have been kill on sight.

Nothing was adding up, and the petite young woman found herself getting more wound up by the second, as was noticed by the way her pace had quickened ever so slightly. "That bastard.." the words suddenly flew out of her mouth before she could even stop them, "..just what the fuck is he up too?!"

"If we knew that doll, we wouldn't be here thinking about it." Idate replied, with a small smile.

"I know, I know.. But its just so frustrating you know, Naruto could be in danger as we speak."

"..Then send him on a mission, for a few days atleast.. until we get this sorted out, and we'll act and speak as though he's still in Konoha; around that Akatsuki waste anyway." the lilac-eyed assistant suggested, in between bites of her precious dango.

"And the Akatsuki will be none the wiser." The pink-haired kunoichi finished for her, a thoughtful expression etched across her features.

"Hmm," Idate added, "..that could work."

"Yeah, okay." Sakura agreed, before ordering, "I still want this interrogation started now, the sooner we know what's going on, the better."

"Hai, hai, Sakura-sama." Idate complied teasingly, making his way over to the doors.

Sakura sighed. This was definitely going to be a long day.

* * *

  
The mid-afternoon air was still icy, if anything the temperatures had dropped some more. The clouds looked like they were about to drop their load by the bucket, forget the drops. Deidara had no idea how his partner could sleep through such frigid conditions, but he was. You would have thought he would be huddled up in a ball trying to keep warm, but no, he was spread out over three quarters of the clay bird, leaving hardly any room for the blonde. He didn't mind so much though, atleast his dark-haired partner was quiet, and not trying to come up with more _suicidal_ ways to entertain himself.

Deidara sighed, he would have to wake him up soon. Peering out over the edge of the white chakra-moulded clay, azure eyes scanned the wasteland below. Everything had a dull grey shade to it from the lack of sunlight, but if he could see the colour Deidara would have guessed the whole area would have ranged from sandy, to dark mucky browns. There was absolutely nothing to be seen for miles around. The place was deserted. Completely devoid of human life.

Deidara flowed chakra to the palms of his hands, as he leaned forward and placed the mouths on the neck of the crane. The creation flew a lot faster when it wasn't on auto-pilot, and so their speed picked up an appreciable amount as he guided the bird towards the edge of the wasteland, where he could see a dot on the horizon, which he knew to be the town they were looking for.

_It wont take long now, soon the mission will be over,_ he thought contently to himself._  
_

* * *

_  
_The walk back to the prisoners cell was quiet, as Sakura mechanically put one foot in front of the other, blocking the conversation going on between the other two out, as she cleared her mind of everything-- or tried.

There was this one thing nagging her, that she just couldn't get out of her mind. She didn't know why, but this time she couldn't stop thinking about it. He wouldn't leave her mind like he used to. She felt so confused about what she should do. Normally inner-sakura was good at keeping all the questions, thoughts, and what if's at bay, but not since their orange-masked captive came along; and this was the main reason why she felt so frustrated, having to deal with his case.

"I wondered when you was gonna show up." a deep masculine voice echoed, bouncing off the stone walls, bringing her out of her reverie.

Looking up, she saw a medium height, dark-spiky-haired shinobi, leaning on the wall in a very similar posture that she saw Aki in this morning; though it was less enthusiastic, and more.. lazy.

"Nara." She nodded in acknowledgement. Putting her thoughts on hold for the time being, she went back to the business at hand. "Have you had any problems at all?"

"Iie." he drawled in response, "I can certainly say, he's not like any other captive ive ever dealt with in the past."

"I agree." She added encouragingly, "I'm just going to give him a medical shot, the interrogators will be questioning him soon after."

"Okay." Shikamaru nodded in favour of her decision.

Opening the door and disappearing into the room, Sakura efficiently injected the needed serum into her seemingly snoozing captive, though she had an inkling he was fully alert. Once she was done, she left her three temporary subordinates in the dimly lit corridor, with a few final words.

"I'll be back later to heal any wounds, and feed him; just radio me when your done."

* * *

The pink-haired kunoichi was walking aimlessly around the busy streets of the village. It was twenty-five to two, so there was no use making her way over to the training grounds just yet, as the infamous copy-ninja was most likely more infamous for being late, than from copying over one thousand jutsu. She figured she should think of another nickname for him, something better suited.

She continued to plod along; up and down the streets, through the market, stopping occasionally to look at items of clothing and objects that caught her attention as she passed on by. She came to stop outside a little gift shop, that her brother used to buy her presents from, when she was little.

Looking through the window, she saw wooden mannequin dolls, displaying a few small, female kimonos and on either side a male one. But one stood out the most to her, it was the same one her brother had brought her for her third birthday, to wear at the sakura festival. It was very expensive when she had first got it; the material being a fine silk, coloured black, with a bright pink phoenix down the left, with a matching coloured obi. Oh, how upset she remembered being, the day she no longer fitted in it. She still had it to this day, hung in the back of her wardrobe.

Smiling slightly at the memory, her eyes flicked to the next thing that she saw, a pretty set of mugs. They were all arranged around a circular stand. The porcelain was pink with white polka-dots, that reminded her of snow, and were decorated with pink cupcakes. Moving along, she saw on a stand further inside the shop, box-sets of Jiraiya's Icha-Icha books.

Sakura gazed at all the bright bindings, each one a unique colour. Her eyes settling on the petal-pink one. It was the last one he wrote. He named it ominous clouds; it was the only one she had, and had ever read. It was a story he wrote her for her sixteenth birthday, with her finally coming of age, he decided she could have one. She had accepted it shyly and thanked him. The first time she ever read it, was the night she received the dreaded news, before she took the mission to retrieve him, from rain country. It just happened to be the most emotional story, out of all the romance novels she had ever read; because it was about her and Sasuke. Sakura being the heroine of course. She wanted to be mad at him for writing, and drawing such explicit things about her, but as she got to the end, she wanted to thank him even more so. The only thank you, she never got to properly say.

Her gaze intensified as everything clicked into place. The reason for her shishou's odd behaviour lately, the constant drinking, shaking off her responsibilities. It all made sense to her now. The reason she no longer wanted to be hokage, and the distant gaze in her hazel orbs, when she wasn't quite there, the lifeless look they now held.

It should have been Jiraiya's fifty-fifth birthday, tomorrow. How could she have forgotten, it had only been two years since they had lost him on an infiltration mission. She felt even worse now, having missed breakfast with Naruto this morning. She wondered how he was getting on, was he coping well?

The pink-haired kunoichi slowly made her way into the shop, promising herself that she would make the time to go see her best friend later on that day, when she vaguely heard someone shout out her name. They called her again, and she turned around to see who it was, peaking her head out the shops entrance way.

"Sakura-chan!!" she saw blonde spiky hair, bobbing and weaving thought the crowded street. Just the person she was thinking of. When Naruto finally came into full view, making his way over to her, she watched his cerulean orbs flick from questioning to concerned.

They weren't as bright as they used to be, and she could see that he was upset inside. He was hiding it incredibly well, as usual. The dimness in his eyes -though nowhere near as bad as Tsunade's- was the only tell tale sign that something was wrong, they just didn't have that usual, happy-go-lucky spark. He was wearing his casual clothes, since it was his day off. The bright orange had toned down some, now that he was used to wearing all black whilst on duty, which Sakura found looked really good on him; Hinata was still sniffing around, if that was any indication. His casual clothes consisted of black pants and boots, with a dark grey t-shirt adorned with an orange swirl, and his orange and black hoody; which was now zipped up due to the brash weather.

"Naruto," she greeted, enveloping her hearts brother in a hug, "I'm sorry I couldn't make it to breakfast this morning, I slept in late."

Returning her hug, he said, "Don't worry about it, I ate with aniki." leaning back ever so slightly, he examined her again, "Besides you look like you could have used the extra bit of sleep. I mean look at you…"

Feigning offence, she stepped out of their embrace, scowl firmly in place, as she playfully, punched his arm. "What _exactly_ are you trying to say, Naruto?" she questioned accusingly.

"Um.. Well.. Nothing." he looked confusedly at her, "You still look beautiful to me, Sakura-chan; even if your hair looks like you've been dragged backwards through a bush, and you have these dark circles under your eyes; kinda like Gaara's actually."

Her scowl partially darkened, turning a little more real and less fake. "What!?"

Brows furrowing, he repeated, "I said, you still look beaut.."

"I heard you Naruto, are you seriously trying to dig a bigger whole for yourself."

"Eh?"

"Oh never mind." she sighed, changing the subject she said, "..so how was breakfast with Masaki?"

Falling into step behind her, and following her into the shop, the blonde started to ramble. "It was really good, I had seven bowls of Miso ramen with pork. Your brother could only hack four, it was so funny; he sat there for ages holding his stomach going, _'__I__'__m gonna be sick, Naruto, how can you eat so much__' _every time I got another bowl."

"Heh, your eating habits have got to be the only way anybody can tell your not actually related."

"Tell me about it. He just cant handle as much as me.." Naruto then stated proudly, pointed to the muscle on his arm, he was flexing.

Half listening to his babbling, the pink-haired woman glanced around the shop some more. It was full of all sorts of gifts, and there was a whole wall, covered in cards for all occasions. Next she spotted a basket display full of name key-rings. There was a good variety of names that Sakura found pretty, like, Ame, which had a picture of rain drops in the background. Tsuki, was the shape of a crescent moon; Kaede, had the image of a maple leaf on it; Nami was written on a big blue and white wave.

Sakura was so entranced by all the names and their symbolic meanings, that she didn't notice when Naruto picked up a black and pink, heart-shaped key-ring; and rubbed his thumb over the rubber texture, grazing over the kanji.

"This name would have suited you too, Sakura-chan." he whispered, more to himself than the green eyed woman, now looking at him with an unreadable expression.

"Why?" she asked, "What name is it?"

Coming out of his trance like state, he looked at her with a fox-like grin, and replied, "Aiko; literally meaning love child, although some interpret it as little love or beloved one. I think that this name would have suited you too because you are a love child, so full of love, always giving it, and not asking for it back in return; you'll be someone's _big_ love one day, but its okay cos you're my beloved one, now and forever."

Sakura was stunned into silence, what could she say to that, really? "Um, thanks I guess. Check you out anyway, knowing the meaning of a name like you just read it out the dictionary."

His smile turned sheepish, the one he always wore when he was embarrassed or nervous, and he started to scratch the back of his head. A smile broke out over her face, and her eyes softened as she stepped over to him, embracing him in the second hug that afternoon.

In Sakura's opinion, he was such a gentle, caring and loving person. He deserved so much more out of life than he received. In that long moment, as Naruto wrapped his arms around her tiny waist; she realized just why it was that she always stuck up for him when he wasn't there, the reason why he was best suited to become hokage, and just what made him her most precious person.

And then just like the idiot he was, he just had to go and ruin the sensitive moment.

"That's soo my favourite book-ttebayo." he said, the pretty pink book catching his attention.

"Which one?" Sakura asked, turming them around a little, so she could see.

"Ominous clouds. You know the one Ero-sennin wrote." he answered. "The main character has pink hair.. she looks a lot like you actually, Sakura-chan."

The pink-haired kunoichi leaned back, and narrowed her green eyes dangerously. Her fist was raised and ready to rap him on the back of the head, when..

_Thud._

A tall, silver-haired male, beat her to it. "That's because it is her you dummy, and I don't appreciate you reading graphic novels about your sister, or more to the point, mine." an all too familiar voice travelled to her ears.

"What? Ero-sennin wrote a book about Sakura-chan. That bloody pervert."

"Wasn't he always?"

The blonde nodded in response, chuckling slightly.

"Masi." the pink-haired kunoichi said happily in greeting. "How come you never came to see me when you got back."

It was his turn to grin sheepishly then, as he ruffled his short silver locks, in a thoughtful manner. "I planned to see you this morning at breakfast, but you have this _bad habit _of not showing up."

"Uh.. Gomen, Aniki." she apologized, "I woke up late."

"Aah, excuses, excuses.." Masaki drawled, flinging an arm around Sakura's and Naruto's shoulder, "Now that were all here, lets go get some ice-cream or something.. its been a while."

"Yeah, about that.." taking on a guilty look she finished, "I have training."


	5. Chapter Four, Emiko

Chapter Four: Emiko.

* * *

"Oi, Tobi." the blonde called to awaken his partner.

He watched as the dark-haired nin wriggled a little, turning onto his other side, a funny high pitched mumble escaping his lips.

"Tobi, get up, yeah!." he called for the second time.

A few grumbles and mumbles later, he sat up slowly; rubbing his eyes over the top of his mask, like it actually removed the sleep from them. It really didn't take that long for his partner to properly wake up, Deidara realized, as the dark-haired shinobi started eagerly looking around, from where he was stood on the neck of the white bird.

"Are we there yet, Deidara-sempai?"

"No, yeah." he replied curtly.

"Eh, Tobi doesn't understand. What does _'__no, yeah__'_ mean, sempai?" he inquired facing him now, giving off a confused aura. "Does it mean sempai's not sure? Did he got Tobi lost?"

He hadn't been awake five minutes and he was already starting to irk him. And there was his partner thinking he had grammatical issues, Deidara thought his dark-haired companion should check out his own. "No, Tobi. It means no, un!" the blonde snapped.

"Sempai's being so grumpy, Tobi thinks he needs a sleep."

"Tobi, it's the afternoon. Only an idiot like you would need to have a sleep before the days over." the blonde grumbled at his partner, wishing he had left him to sleep just a few minutes longer.

* * *

Sakura appeared in a rain of pink petals on training ground four. She really shouldn't have wasted any chakra just before a training session with her ex-sensei, but with a heavy sigh she knew it was necessary. There was no way she would have managed to escape her brothers if she hadn't vanished from the spot, right after seeing the evil grins spread across their faces when she announced she had training.

She had to repress the shudder that crept up her spine, with the lengths they went to, to make her spend some time with them, who knew what they would have done. She did feel a little bad ditching them like that, but she did have training; and in her line of work, one could never be too well prepared, it was her job-- the life style that she had chosen.

It had to be roughly two 0'clock now, and the pink-haired kunoichi wondered how long it would be before Kakashi turned up, if he wasn't here in 20 minutes, she was leaving; duty did call after all.

But it looked like she wouldn't have to wait another minute, as a white poof of smoke appeared beside her, revealing a tall silver-haired jounin, in the standard elite attire-- much like she should be wearing; she really wasn't setting a good example for the new genin.

"Kaka-sempai," she chirped, mildly surprised, "..your _early_."

"Sakura-chan," He saluted in acknowledgement, "..its good to see you too."

"Is it?" she questioned.

"Well, it seems there was no old lady's that needed my _exceptional_ services today."

"Oh really." she raised a delicate pink brow sceptically.

"Okay, okay.." he raised his hands in defeat, "I was hoping that if I stayed in your good books, then maybe you'd enlighten me as to the goings on in the basement. You know how much your old sensei likes ANBU gossip first hand, from the _boss lady _herself; besides, I'd give it twenty minutes before you bowed out on me."

She laughed guiltily, "You know me too well."

"Aa. Lets get to it, shall we." he suggested, gesturing to the wide open field, surrounded by trees.

* * *

The village was much like Konoha, Tobi observed, as he and his partner made their way on to the dirt path leading into the village. It was surrounded by a dense forest of trees that never seemed to loose their colour during the winter. The only difference being, there was no wall of defence surrounding the small town, or shinobi standing on guard.

After only a morning of travel, from Amegakure to Fire country, they had arrived at the destination of their mission, Crater City.

"Does Deidara-sempai know where he's taking Tobi?" He knew the city, but he did not know the name of the place Kakuzu's bookies receded in; and if Deidara didn't know either, they'd be in a bit of a rut.

The corner of the blonde's lip twitched, as a young couple going for an afternoon stroll looked at him oddly. Who could blame them, Tobi thought, it wasn't everyday that you walked past a grown man talking in third person with an orange mask covering his face-- and he had to admit that he did find it odd himself at first..

"Pawn shop, yeah." Deidara stated, picking up his pace.

The dark-haired shinobi skipped merrily back to his side; oh, how he could have some fun with this.

"Porn shop?!" he then exclaimed, halting to a stop and placing a hand on his hip, "Sempai! There's no way he's going in there, Tobi's not into that stuff."

He watched as his partner too stopped, and continuously slapped his gloved palm against his forehead several times, before trying to explain. "No.. That's not what I mean, yeah."

"Yes it is. Don't think Tobi doesn't know what _porn_ is sempai." he reprimanded shaking his mask clad face in disapproval. "Hidan-san told him all about it. Tobi doesn't know about sempai, demo he doesn't like whips and chains; and what's bondage anyway..?"

".."

"Although Tobi does like the sound of pink fluffy handcuffs…"

".."

"Sempai..?" The black-haired shinobi called out to his partner, who had a strange look on his face that he couldn't discern. Though he had to admit it was quite a sight, if it wasn't for his orange swirled mask the whole act would be ruined, as Deidara would be able to see the devious smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

"_Pawn_ shop, Tobi, not _porn, _un." He then said sternly, leaving no room for question; as he continued down the path, that turned more rubbly and steep as they travelled, "A _pawn shop _is a business that _lends money _at high interest rates in exchange for collateral, such as jewellery, electronic items, or anything else that is judged to have a resale value. The pawn shop keeps the collateral, and if the debt is repaid, the item is returned.. But if the money isn't repaid, the item is sold and the pawn shop keeps the proceeds."

"Tobi doesn't get it!"

"Basically, pawn brokers lend money to people at a lower economic level, too those who don't have access to other forms of credit, such as credit cards or a credit line from a bank." he further explained, his patients wavering.

"Why should Tobi believe sempai," he accused, "that's not what Hidan-san said at all."

"..because I used to exchange collateral -mainly clay figurines- for loans, before I joined Akatsuki.. And never paid them back." he ground out in obvious frustration.

"So was Hidan-san _lying_?" the dark-haired nin feigned confusion, sounding incurious.

"No, yeah!"

"_No, yeah!?"_

"Tobi, Urasai!"

".. but I want _pink_ fluffy handcuffs!"

*

When the duo arrived at the end of the path, the rubble and trees were replaced with mismatched sidewalk slabs, and multi-coloured houses. There weren't as many people out as there usually was, it was a busy city but Deidara deduced it was due to the frigid weather -which he could totally understand, he wouldn't even be out if it wasn't for the stupid mission in the first place- the people who were out however, looked as though they were rushing back to work after lunch breaks, and running last minute errands that they had left far too long.

Sometimes Deidara did stop to wonder what life would have been like for him if he wasn't a shinobi; if he would have his own business, or work nights at the local pub, or perhaps be a teacher. He wondered if he would have ever settled down and had a wife, perhaps a few little brats of his own running around.

But from the second he was born it seemed he was destined to live, what he called, a really _fucked _up life.

His parents were _normal; _his mother being the stereotypical housewife, long blonde hair, gorgeous blue eyes; his father was a rather rich upper-class man, coincidentally the owner of a pawn shop in Iwagakure-- which was probably the reason why he hated them so much.

So naturally when his mother gave birth, and asked to see her baby, her first son -child- the first thing she did was scream. In his parents eyes he was deformed.

He grew up with his aunt, who gave him his birth name at the age of two, after fighting for sole custody to get him out of the local orphanage. Though she never told him what it meant, not until she found it necessary.

She was a lot more open minded than his parents, she loved it when he made her ballet and swan figurines-- those were her favourite. She loved him and told him that he was special, that he had a gift, and he should take that gift and use it too help people. So he joined the academy at the age of seven, and graduated as genin by ten. And for the first time in his life he was proud of himself, and his accomplishment-- he could finally help people, not in the same way as his aunt did with her healing techniques, but he could still help out in his own way, none-the-less.

But a few years later when his aunt fell sick, he felt helpless and weak, there was nothing that he could do. Deidara took a deep breath as he relived her precious last words.

_- - -_

_The hospital room was dim, with only a bedside table and chair. Atop the wooden table was a clay flowerpot and lily, he had made; he had more than enough money to buy one, but his aunt was his number one, and only fan of his art, with an appreciation of hand made presents, and so he didn't hesitate in creating it for her, if that's what would make her happy._

_Deidara sat there listening to the constant beeping of the heart monitor and her even breathes, the sound calming to him, as the soft pitter-patter of raindrops at night to others. Slowly he sat back into the lumpy chair, relaxing ever so slightly. He watched the way her short blonde bangs, that usually framed her face perfectly, stuck to her face in clumps. He could smell the salty sweat seeping out of her pours, sickly in the air; but he didn't care, so long as she was going to be fine, so was he._

_He couldn't remember how long he had been in that cramped room, time didn't seem to have a meaning in there; he would just sit, or pace as she slept, and attend to her every needs through her waking hours. He was constantly worrying about what he would do, and where he would go without her in his life. Honestly, he didn't think he could live without her, go on knowing that he couldn't help the only person who ever helped or loved him, freaky hands and all._

_The door suddenly opened, and Deidara nearly jumped a mile, he was so deep in thought. As he quickly turned and saw the nurse stood at the door, eyeing him with a look he knew all too well, his hand tightened its grip around the arm of the chair-- he knew what time it was._

"_Deidara-san, you shouldn't be here, visiting hours finished two hours ago!" the nurse whispered so loud, that he didn't quite understand the point of her whisper, she might as well have shouted._

"_Will you keep your voice down, un." he snapped, in hushed tones._

_The nurse took a quick glance at the young woman in the bed, and understanding flickered through her dark eyes, before she nodded and beckoned him forward with her hands._

_He stood begrudgingly, swiftly, but softly, he placed his cool lips to her forehead; the searing heat slightly burning his lips, before he pulled away. He watched her, face scrunched up in a deeply troubled expression for a long moment._

_With a heavy sigh, he made his way to the door, where the nurse waited impatiently, eyes boring into him, by the door. Squinting his eyes from the bright white lights in the hallway, as he slowly approached, he ordered, more than asked, "Emiko needs some more pain relief, she's sweating buckets; and whilst your at it, place a cool flannel on her forehead."_

"_I'll get right too it." she curtly replied through clenched teeth._

_With the knowledge that his aunt, Emiko, was going to be seen to, he nodded to the nurse a thank you, turning to leave, when he heard a delicately soft, but broken voice, call to him from behind._

"_Dei-chan.." she called out to him, "can you stay a few minutes longer, please."_

"_Of course, Miko-chan." Like she even had too ask. _

_Deidara, despite the disapproving look he received from the nurse, went to sit in the chair by his aunt's side. He was happy he wouldn't have to leave just yet, like he had anyone to go home too anyway. His aunt lost all her friends after taking on the responsibilities that came with the two year old toddler, and the young blonde hated himself for it, his team mates hated him also, but for a completely different reason he hated himself-- they didn't have anybody, only eachother._

_The nurse made an annoyed grunting sound in the back of her throat, "You have five minutes." and then she was out the door with a huff._

_The room was silent for a while, each happy with the others presents._

"_I'm so sorry I'm doing this to you.." she stopped to cough, "keeping you from your training, I mean. I know how much you love spending time on your art."_

"_Its fine, Emiko-chan, really. I don't love my art as much as I love you, your more important."_

_A tear rolled down her cheek, and deidara didn't think much of it, she was always an emotional one; anything could bring her to tears, whether it was joy or something upsetting-- and so he took her hand, in his smaller one, and placed a kiss, too show her he meant what he said._

"_Arigato." she whispered, her voice so sweet, like honey. "You know I never did tell you why I gave you the name Deidara, did I?"_

_He looked at her quizzically, to be totally honest with himself, he didn't realise his name had a meaning. "What do you mean?"_

"_It took a while to think of a name for you, the whole two years I spent fighting for you in court, I couldn't think of a name that would be fit enough for a young man such as yourself._

"_I wanted it to have meaning, I wanted it to be unique, and to only resemble you. I wanted it to shout who you was, what you was like. Its reflection had to be your personality; that when you looked into a lake, or a river, you saw Deidara staring back at you."_

_She stopped to cough again, and then she started to wrench; but it wasn't sick, no it was red, blood red. Deidara jumped up in a panic, reaching out for the tissue in the draw in the bedside cabinet, to mop it up, from her cheeks, lips and hands. He then reached over to press the big green button on the wall, the buzzer, the alarm._

"_Don't!" she called through the fits of coughing, that were chocking her lungs; and depriving Deidara from the oxygen he needed to breathe, because he dared not too-- but he stopped._

"_Miko.." he cried frantically, "you need the doctors. Shh.. don't speak." _

"_No Dei-chan.." she replied, her eyes so blood-shot, that he didn't know whether it was from the wrenching, or the tears streaming down her face. "I have to tell you this.. Please, will you listen."_

_Couldn't she tell him another time? She wasn't going to last long if he didn't hurry up and get help._

_He hands dropped to his side, and he froze._

_He understood now. She wasn't going to make it, no matter how long she stayed in there, attached to wires monitors and tubes. This was it, the end. She was dying, right this minute, and there was nothing he could do. He had failed her-- no, he was a failure._

"_You was two.. When I finally won my prize, the most precious gift I had ever received, you. And like I said, I hadn't a clue as to what I should call you. I must have went through a million baby books, but nothing popped out at me._

"_You was sat in front of the fire place, when I came to get you for dinner. Of course it was off, I was very careful with what I left on, plugged in ect.. Around you, I wanted you to be safe. And so anyways, you were playing with some pink clay I had brought you to play with -the children's home said you loved the stuff- I stood at the door and watched, it disappeared into your palm.." she laughed, coughed a little and then carried on whilst Deidara still frozen like a statue listened. "I panicked, and then it was in your tiny little hand again. I don't know how, but you had moulded it into the shape of a bird.. It was a beautiful pink bird._

" _And then you said your very first words, 'Art is a bang, yeah!' you shouted with such enthusiasm, it made my heart swell with pride; not only did you manage to say more than one word, but it was a perfect sentence._

"_Then all of a sudden, you threw the clay figurine, and I scrambled to catch it, just before it landed in the pile of wood in the fireplace you grunted 'un!' and it blew up, lightning the logs. You just sat there watching the flames dance, with a content smile on you handsome little face. I didn't know whether to scream and shout, or to congratulate you and give you praise. But then you noticed me, and said, 'Kaa-tan, look.. I did it for you yeah!" and I couldn't help but smile."_

"_Kaa-chan ka.. Sounds just like you-- you are my real mother, no matter what anybody else thinks." the blonde finally said, coming back around. He sunk onto the bed beside Emiko, and whilst he took her hand in his grasp, he asked, "Can you finish the story please."_

"_Hai." she answered, a beaming smile on her face, radiating warmth and happiness. "'Art is a bang,' was a quote of my favourite artists, his art was similar to yours, in the way that you use holes for eyes and things like that. He was constantly criticized for his art's strangeness, or exquisite design, and this happened to you because of your extra mouths. Cruel people used to say they were strange things, and you used to cry yourself to sleep at night; but that's only because they couldn't understand your gift or your art. One day they will Dei-chan, someone will understand you, and learn to appreciate your art._

"_Now these holes you make in your sculptures for eyes are similar to that of a birds, and since the first sculpture I ever saw you make was a bird, I named you after a pre-historic one. Dei also means mud, which resembles your clay._

"_When you look at your reflection in a mirror, or river, I want you to see, Deidara, an artist, that creates beautiful bird figurines. Your special Dei-chan, I want you to realise that some day, and appreciate your gift as much as I do. I want you to use it to help people, like I do with my medical ninjutsu."_

_The coughing fits started up again, and Deidara immediately knew that he had let her talk to much, as precious as the words were, he should have got help, he should have helped her._

"_I want you to have a good life Dei.. And always remember Emiko, your Okaa-san who loves you."_

_Blood splattered on his face and clothes, as she uttered her last words. He sharply inhaled as Emiko took in her last shallow breath. The room was silent for all but a second, the longest second of his life; and then the silence was filled with a constant beep, a dead line, as her heart monitor cried the loss of another life._

_And he cried to. The tears were like never ending stream, they wouldn't stop, and he didn't want them to, he would mourn her for all she was worth-- for the rest of his life, because he had just lost his most precious person.._

_And it was all his fault, he killed her._

_He leaned over her, and rested his head in the crook of her neck. He had never felt such pain in his life, not when he found out the truth about his birth parents, and not when he got called a freak and cried himself to sleep every night. No this was different. This was real pain. This was what real loss felt like._

"_Kaa-tan.." he whispered in shuddering sobs, "Please forgive me."_

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_A.N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter out guys. Ive had a lot going on and ive wrote this chapter out several times, but I feel this one was the best, so I hope you liked it anyways._

_I just wanted you to be able to understand Deidara a little better, in the anime/manga it doesn't really explain about Dei's past, only how he came to be in Akatsuki, and I feel he should have a little more depth to his character._

_So there we have it, please review, I'd like to know what you thought._

_Next chapter: Interrogation._

_Also, if you have time, have a look at Yuumei: Namida, on my profile and let me know if you think it will be any good. Arigatou. _

_Ja ne,**  
Rudii**eee-**Miko**mii**.x**_


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